Gone By In Time And No Longer Existing
by miserableyouth
Summary: Sugar Lopez-Pierce has seen this happen in the movies. She's found herself in a sticky situation, and the only way out is through some major character development. Only problem is, she has no idea where to start. Backtothefuture!Sugar, and of course it'll involve Brittana.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

She trudged up the pathway to her house, her bag slipping from her shoulder at an awkward angle but she did nothing to fix it. It had been a long day at school; her work tablet had run out of battery halfway through the day and she had to resort to using a pen and paper like a caveman. Perhaps she should have reconsidered downloading all those apps last night, but they were important. Everyone had a _Virtual Tablet Pet_ app and she didn't want to be the loser without one. Plus her _Virtual Pet_ penguin would have died if she did not feed it this morning.

She took her keycard out of her bag and slipped it through the scanner. "Welcome home Sugar," the robotic pre-recorded voice sounded. Luckily her moms had chosen to install a female voice in the house, and not a creepy man's voice; imagine being welcomed home by an invisible man calling her Sugar. She shuddered at the thought.

Upon entering her house, she nudged the wall with her heel, flicking the switch at the back of shoe. Her shoe laces untied themselves and she kicked them off haphazardly. She dumped her bag with her shoes and headed straight for the kitchen, hoping to find a snack. Instead she found her mami at the kitchen sink, chopping up what looked like carrots. "Oh, hey honey, you're back already? How was school?" Santana asked without looking up.

"Nothing special. Do we have anything to eat?" Sugar replied with half her body in the refrigerator. _No-fat-non-dairy-yogurt; no thanks. Sugarless-decaffeinated-Cola. Puh-lease. Hydroponic-organic-celery sticks; you have got to be kidding me_. Why was it that even though their fridge was always stocked, there was nothing interesting to eat? All the other kids at school always seemed to have a stock of junk food at home, but no, she was stuck with the healthy-conscious moms. As if she needed any other reason to stick out.

"Can you hold up until dinner Sugar? Mom will be home soon,"

Sugar begrudgingly closed the refrigerator door. Ok, perhaps she slammed it out of frustration, but if her mami noticed, she didn't show it.

"Also, I've spent all day cleaning the house, so it'd be nice if you could line your shoes up with everyone else's and take your bag upstairs. You know Aunt Abby and Uncle Wesley are coming over tomorrow with your cousins. It'd be nice if we could at least show them that we live in a decent living space," Santana continued without looking up from her carrots.

Right. She had forgotten that her cousins were coming over from Ohio to stay for the weekend. Aunt Abby was her mom's younger sister and she had two cousins; Dylan, who was seven and his brother Tyler, who was five. They were nice kids, but keeping young boys entertained will never be an easy task. Sugar tried to forget the last time they were over; it took her a day and a half to wash off the red stains on her favorite shirt, after they decided that she'd be a better canvas for their finger painting. She got along well enough with her cousins, but they weren't close. Unfortunately, or perhaps luckily, for her, they lived in Ohio, while she lived in Los Angeles, so she didn't see them often. Christmases and the odd weekend were enough cousin-bonding time for her. Usually she just sat them down and made them watch some of her old kid's movies; _Toy Story 9_ was one of their favorites. She'd never admit to anyone that she enjoyed re watching those movies as well; 16 year olds don't watch cartoons let alone enjoy them.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll do it later," Sugar replied halfheartedly. She headed towards the stairs but paused on the bottom step. If she was going to ask her mami, she had to do it now; her mami seemed to be in a good mood.

"Hey Mami," Sugar started. She bit her lip, a nervous habit she had picked up from her mom. She had an inkling of what her mami's answer would be, but there was no hurt in trying, right? "Can I go to a party tonight? Everyone is going to be there," she added as if that was reason enough for her to attend.

"Not this time honey. We have to wake up early tomorrow to pick up your cousins. Sorry Sugar," Santana apologized, though Sugar didn't think it sounded very genuine.

"Aww, come on Mami! Felix said he'd take me. Just this one time, _por favor_? I promise not to ask for anything ever again," Sugar begged.

Santana looked up from her carrots and turned to her daughter. "Felix? Are you still seeing that guy? You know I really don't like him. He reminds me of someone I went to high school with, and he was a total jerk. Couldn't you reconsider your choice in boys?"

Sugar was starting to get frustrated. Her mami was always controlling every aspect of her life. This was not the first time that Santana had brought up her relationship with Felix "What? Mami, you have no say in who I choose to date. Plus I'm not even dating Felix. He's just a friend. What do you know about men anyway? You married a woman," Sugar spat.

Santana froze. Her daughter had never complained about having two moms. Sure, at five years old, her daughter had asked her why all the other kids had a mommy and a daddy, and why she has two mommies instead, but after Brittany explained how it didn't matter what made up a family, as long as everyone loved each other, Sugar was more interested in her ice cream they had gotten after school. Marriage equality wasn't anything new. It was legalized in all fifty states by the end of 2019 and Brittany and Santana had gotten married a year later; 18 years ago. Back then she was still receiving frowns when people saw her out in public, holding Brittany's hand, but that had decreased as the years went by. She knew that not everyone would approve; it was an unfortunate truth, but it still hurt to know that the younger generation was inheriting the ignorance of others. Surely her own daughter wasn't one of them. Surely.

"Excuse me? I'm not liking that tone young lady. You go to your room and think about what you just said," Santana said as calmly as she could.

"You think you can control everything about me, but you can't. I'm my own person. You had everything growing up. Abuelo and Abuela gave you everything. They let you go to New York by yourself and even paid for it. My own mami won't even let me go to a freaking party. You know that if I don't go to this, I'm going to be the biggest freak at school. Bigger than I already am. I get crap from kids because my mami plays a lesbian lawyer on a stupid TV show. Do you know how embarrassing that is for me? Do you ever think about how I feel? God, you're so selfish!" She started to stomp up the stairs, but stopped and shouted, "Not Asperger's!" across her shoulder before slamming the door to her bedroom, leaving Santana stunned and her carrots unfinished.

The truth was, Sugar was never resentful that she had two moms. She loved them to death and wouldn't change anything for the world. Sure she had received some comments at school from some idiots, but she was fiercely protective of her mothers and usually just gave them a verbal smackdown; attacking the size of their brains, or lack of, usually did the trick. Sugar flopped onto her bed, burrowing her head into her pillow. She knew she had crossed the line, but she wasn't going to admit that to her mami. She knew that she was never going to be allowed to the party now. After a few minutes of convincing herself that she did nothing wrong, she got up from her bed and looked at her desk ready to vent her frustrations to her friends online. _Dammit_, she thought, _my bag is still downstairs with my tablet._ She fished out her phone from her pocket and called the one person she knew would understand. Her phone screen lit up and a hologram of a familiar face popped up. Unfortunately it wasn't the familiar face she was looking for.

"Hi there Sugar-Spice-and-Everything-Nice! What can I do you for?" the hologram said.

"Oh, hey Aunt Mercedes. I was wondering if Ava was around?"

"She's still at school at the moment. Something about basketball tryouts. I swear that girl tries to fit too much into her life. Is it urgent?"

Sugar's shoulders slumped. "No, no. I just wanted to talk to her. It wasn't anything too important."

"What's wrong Sugar? You don't look too happy. Boy problems? Come talk to Aunt Mercedes. I can be just as helpful as Ava you know. Us old folk are actually quite wise, you kids just don't want to listen," Mercedes said, "What's up Sugar?"

"Well, it's Mami. She won't let me go to a party tonight, and then she started getting all controlling and she's being a real bitch," Sugar blurted.

"Your Mami is a bit of a bitch. That will never change. Why didn't she let you go to the party?"

"Because she's a bitch..."

"Sugar..." Mercedes warned with a slight chuckle.

"Ok, ok. Well, our cousins are coming over, and we have to go pick them up from the airport tomorrow. I can't wait until Motta Industries release their _Transporter 1.0_. Then we wouldn't have to worry about picking people up from the airport."

"It sounds like your mami has a legit reason for you to not go to the party. You're only a junior Sugar, there will be heaps of other parties you can go to. Both your moms used to go to parties all the time. I'm sure this is just a one-off thing."

"Yeah, about that...I don't think Mami will let me out of the house ever again," Sugar said quietly, afraid that if she said it any louder, it might actually come true.

"What did you do Sugar?" Mercedes raised her right eyebrow, questioning the teenager, afraid of what she was about to hear.

"I may or may not have shouted back at her...maybe something about her ruining my life..." Sugar thought back to what she had said, embarrassed that her tongue worked faster than her brain in the most crucial of moments.

"What did you say exactly Sugar?" Mercedes asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and Sugar jumped in surprise. "Shit, I think Mami's at my door. Talk to you later Aunt Mercedes," Sugar spoke quickly in a hushed voice and hung up the phone, a stern '_language_' coming from Mercedes' end, before another voice was heard through the door.

"Honey, can I talk to you?" The owner of the voice was not the person Sugar had initially thought.

"What do you want Mom?" Sugar said with a hint of frustration in her voice. Brittany opened the door slightly, and peeked in. Once she saw her daughter sitting on her bed, she opened the door wider and stepped in, careful to close the door quietly behind her.

"Honey, I came home to find dinner not ready and your mami upset. What's happened?" Brittany asked softly.

"Why do you automatically assume it was me, Mom? Why don't you ask her yourself," Sugar narrowed her eyes and burrowed her head back into the pillow, hoping that her mom would take the hint and leave.

"Look, I wasn't blaming anyone. I just wanted to know what's got your mami all upset. I've heard her side of the story. Now it's your turn to tell me yours," Brittany stepped closer to the bed and reached out to stroke her daughter's hair.

"Eww, Mom, you smell like cat piss. Couldn't you have had a shower before coming to my room?"

"Cat piss? It's my new perfume. You don't like it?" Brittany deadpanned. Sugar rolled her eyes; she could never understand her Mom's humor But her mom really did smell. Working as a vet also meant having the unfortunate task of cleaning up the messes that the animals left. "Mom tells me you wanted to go to the party with Felix," Brittany changed the subject.

"Well, that was the plan, until Mami ruined it,"

"Look, I know we don't get any say in who you hang out with, but Felix? Surely there are nicer kids. What about Henry? You guys used to hang out all the time. What happened to him? I haven't seen him around in a while."

Sugar looked up and threw her mom a disgusted look. "Eww, Henry? Really Mom? That kid's so fat, he broke his tablet with just a tap of his elephant fingers,"

Brittany narrowed her eyes. "That's not nice Sugar," she berated. _She's Santana's daughter alright_, Brittany couldn't help but think

"Sorry. Asperger's," Sugar replied, but not sincerely.

"Why do all you kids say that now? You know how offensive it is, it's bullying. How do you think someone who has Asperger's feels when people say stuff like that? Do you know what people used to say back when I was in high school?" Brittany started.

"Look, I really don't care about your high school days Mom. Can you just leave me alone?" Sugar interrupted. She buried her head deeper into her pillow, blocking out anything her mom had to say to her.

"Ok Sugar, we'll talk later when you check your attitude problem. You're still not going to the party tonight, and I expect to see you on your best behavior tomorrow when we pick up your Aunt Abby," She knew she wasn't going to get any results when her daughter was in one of her moods. _Teenagers_, Brittany thought to herself as she left the room.

Once she heard the door close behind her, Sugar knew what she had to do. Of course she still had to go to the party. Her parents didn't need to know. She'd just sneak out. People did it all the time. She'd come back home while her parents were still asleep, and be ready for the trip to the airport tomorrow. She didn't need to stay long at the party. Just long enough for people to know that she had turned up and know that she was cool, just like them.

She stuffed a few pillows under the blankets on her bed as a makeshift dummy. So perhaps it didn't really look like her, but that's what people did in the movies and close enough anyway. Her moms weren't about to come visit her room any time soon; she had made it clear that she didn't want to talk to both of them and they were smart enough not to try to. She quickly changed and grabbed her handbag off her dresser where she packed her wallet and phone. She checked her watch. 6:30. _Perfect, just enough time to stop over and grab some dinner with Felix before heading off to the party_. She snuck down the stairs, careful not to make any noise to alert her parents of her doings. Downstairs seemed clear. Her moms were probably taking their showers; they usually did at around this time. She headed towards the garage in tip toe, quickly grabbing her shoes along the way.

Once she had reached the garage, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She walked over to the garage computer, and swiped her keycard. She waited for the _Automatic Revolving Car Rack 3000_ to spin, which would reveal her car, but instead Sugar was presented with an ancient off-white pick-up truck. _That's not my baby_, Sugar thought, _what's wrong with the ARCR?_ Sugar swiped her card again, but nothing happened. "Damn machine!" Sugar swore, punching the machine with her hand in frustration. Sugar checked her watch, and noticed that she was running late, so she gave up and jumped into her mom's old car after grabbing the keys out of the computer system. "You'll have to do for tonight," Sugar whispered. She looked at the dashboard and scrunched her brow in confusion. She had never driven her mom's old car before. She practiced driving in her mami's current car; her mami had insisted that she practiced in a 'car with a safety rating higher than negative ten'. They barely used this hunk of junk, but her mom had said something about this being her first car and she only kept it because she had wanted to make a time machine out of it, or something. Sugar knew her mom enjoyed experimenting with machines; her mom used to fix motorcycles as a part time job during college, but she wasn't sure if her mum was being serious about the time machine part. Looking at the dashboard, with its numerous dials and buttons, Sugar didn't know what to think.

She inserted the key into the ignition and revved the truck. The lights on the dashboard all lit up, illuminating car's interior. _What do I do now?_ Sugar thought to herself. She threw her handbag into the passenger's seat and heard a faint click. Sugar looked around to find the source of the noise, but decided it must have just been something from inside her bag. She looked back at the dashboard and found a button labeled '_Start_'. "Here goes nothing," Sugar pressed the button cautiously, and then the car started to shudder. It collapsed around her and Sugar was suddenly pulled into what seemed like nothingness but felt like being squished through a dark rubber tube. Then everything stopped.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Sugar opened her eyes; she didn't realize that she had closed them and blinked. After the darkness, everything was suddenly bright. Too bright. She took a minute to take in her surroundings. Her garage was gone. The house was gone. It was now daylight and she was parked on the side of an unfamiliar road. On her right was what looked like a park dotted with a few young families enjoying the sunlight. In the center of the park was a playground with gaudy, plastic equipment. It was strange seeing so much green in one place, as if the 'greenness' of it all was concentrated and burnt into Sugar's retinas. On Sugar's left was a row of small, suburban houses. They were so small; Sugar was accustomed to seeing the large and stylish houses of Los Angeles, and wait, was that actually a house made out of wood? Wooden housing had been banned during the termite pandemic of '15. Everyone knew that.

If there were houses still made of wood, more than five trees outside a tree museum, nothing looked familiar and everything looked old fashioned, where was she? Or rather, what era was she in? Sugar knew that Motta Industries were planning on delving into the time travel field after they finished with their transporters, but was her mom smart enough to make her own time machine? _No, of course not. Don't be ridiculous, _Sugar thought to herself, _we're talking about Mom here_. It was for that reason alone that Sugar started to panic.

After the initial shock that she may have actually traveled through time, her brain went into overdrive. _I need to find a way home_. She looked over to the dashboard in front of her, but all she saw was a mix of multicolored switched and buttons, none of them looking particularly helpful in her situation. However, right in the center of the console, where a radio would normally be found, a screen was illuminated. **08/22/2011**. _That has to be the date. That has to be the stupid date that Mom's stupid time machine has sent me. Fuck. What am I supposed to do now? _Sugar thought back to her history classes; what happened in 2011? What happened 27 years ago? She sat there and pondered for a while, racking her brain for an answer, but nothing came to mind. 27 years. She hadn't even been born; Sugar Lopez-Pierce did not exist in this era. Sugar knew nothing about this time period. She looked back at the dashboard. Underneath the date were two words: **Lima, Ohio**. _No freaking way._ Not only was Sugar stuck in a different time period, she was also stuck in a whole other state. A whole other state on the other side of the country. What did she know about Ohio? Sure she had visited Ohio a couple of times to visit her grandparents and Aunt Abby, but what did she know about 2011 Ohio? Zilch.

Tears stung at the corner of her eyes. She was lost in a strange place, with no one to contact. _Contact_. This was her mom's time machine; she'd know what to do. Sugar reached over to her handbag and dug for her phone. She immediately called her mom's number and waited in anticipation to hear the voice she so desperately wanted to hear. However, all her hopes flew out of the car window the moment she heard a cool voice: _The number you have dialed does not exist. Please try again_. Apparently her technologically advanced phone could not connect over the time space continuum. She threw her phone into the passenger seat in defeat and punched the steering wheel, jumping in surprise when the car horn sounded.

Sugar looked back at the dashboard. Of course, why didn't she think of it first? All she had to do was change the date on the time machine. **03/19/2038. Los Angeles, California**. She crossed her fingers, turned on the ignition and pressed 'Start'. Sugar closed her eyes tightly, prepared for the car to suck her in again, but all the car did was let out a weak groan and shut itself off. She opened her eyes and swore. _Fucking piece of crap_! Her eyes were drawn to the red flashing gauge on the dashboard. 'Time Fuel' it read. The car had run out of time fuel. Though Sugar felt that she should be relieved that she had figured out what was wrong with the car, she felt even more helpless. She had no idea what 'time fuel' was. There was no manual she could pull out and read, no app to download for more information, no Mom to ask for further clarification.

Sugar hopped out of the car and opened up the hood. After scanning what she assumed was the engine of the car, she dropped her head. _What am I doing? I don't know anything about cars, let alone time machines_. Sugar made a mental note to get her mom to teach her about cars when she got home. _If I get home_, Sugar said silently.

Sugar jumped back into the car and decided that if she was going to be stuck in this time period, she may as well explore the area. _Stay positive; that's what Mom would say in a situation like this. What would Mami say? You're a Lopez. Suck it up and use your brain_. Thinking about her moms put a slight smile to the corner of her mouth, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. The last time she had seen her parents, she had shouted at them both. _What a great daughter_. She turned on the ignition of the car once again and headed off towards the town, grateful that at least the petrol tank was full. Sometimes it's the littlest things you have to look for when you find yourself in a whole different time period.

After driving to nowhere in particular, she spotted a large grey building. 'Lima Mall'. Malls were not a major occurrence in 2038. In the future, people relied on the Internet for their purchases. Sugar spotted a burger joint and her stomach grumbled in reply. She realized that she hadn't eaten since returning from school, so she parked the car and peered into the store with trepidation. The shop was almost empty, with just a few patrons. Sugar slipped inside, hoping no one would look up and walked over to the counter. She looked up at the overhead menu board in curiosity. She had never ordered food from a counter before. She was used to ordering things through a computer. That having been said, eating burgers was a rarity as her parents dislike her eating too much junk food. Something about a habit they started since being cheerleaders in high school; Sugar wasn't sure, she usually zoned out when her parents told her boring old-people stories.

$4.50 for a burger? 50c extra for cheese? What was this? Were the burgers the size of crumbs? In the future, burgers were $50 each. She had learnt that America had undergone financial troubles, but surely inflation hadn't been that bad! She looked into her wallet. She had a good $5000. She quickly hid her wallet back into her handbag; afraid someone would catch her with all that money and accuse her of stealing. Back home, she knew she was well off, with an actress and a veterinarian for parents, but Sugar couldn't touch the money they had saved for her college fund. Here, in 2011, she had her own money, and could actually use it. She was rich.

After ordering and eating what tasted like a greasy sponge, she got back into the car and explored the town once again. She passed houses upon houses, numerous smaller shops, a place called BreadstiX and a train station with ancient looking trains; in the future, trains hovered on an electromagnetic field, but it seemed like the trains here actually had wheels. _Strange_. She finally passed what seemed like the local public school. William McKinley High School. _Why does that name ring a bell_? Of course, she had read it on numerous occasions when she flicked through her parents' old year books. _This is where Mami and Mom went to school_. A thought suddenly struck her. She was stuck in the year 2011. Her parents were alive during this time. Her parents were living in Lima during this time. Her parents went to William McKinley High School during this time.

Sugar knew how this worked. She had seen enough movies to know that the only way out of a situation like this was to go through a major character upheaval, and become a better person. The only problem was, Sugar didn't know where to start. Was this fate? Was she supposed to meet her parents -in their teenage forms- and learn a lesson from them? As clichéd as it sounded, Sugar had no other ideas. Plus it'd be interesting to see her pubescent parents. _I bet they're total dorks_, Sugar amused.

It was getting dark, and Sugar soon realized that she needed a place to stay. Her first idea was to stay over at her parents' old houses, but her instinct told her that, that wasn't the best idea. How do you tell a bunch of strangers that you're their daughter and granddaughter from the future without giving them a heart attack? Also, surely that'd ruin the space-time continuum or something like that, right? Sugar drove on, not knowing where to go. She really didn't want to have to live in the truck. It really wasn't that comfortable, and smelt like cat and mud. Suddenly, she spotted a motel. 'Motta Motels' the neon sign flashed. _Motta_? Sugar wondered. Surely it wasn't the same Motta company that ran almost half of the world's future economy.

She entered the reception of the motel and was greeted by a middle-aged man who was scouring the business section of a newspaper. He had dark brown hair, which seemed like it was usually groomed back, but presently looked unkempt, and wore a purple shirt with his sleeves rolled up, and his tie hung loosely around his neck, the top button of his shirt undone. He looked up at Sugar and smiled, uncertainty showing in his eyes; why was there a teenager entering the motel at this time of night?

"Hi...er...hello. I'd like to rent a room here," Sugar asked timidly. She quickly looked around, taking in her surroundings. The lobby looked warm, with leafy green fronds sprouting from large ceramic pots and a large chandelier hung low from the ceiling.

"Ah, sure. Are your parents around?" the man replied. He looked up from his newspaper and looked closely at the girl standing in front of him. Something about her looked strange. Was it the clothes she was wearing? _Kids and their fashion, _he thought. But there was something else. Her face fell when he asked her about her parents.

"Um...they're not around. I just want a room for one,"

The man knew what had happened. This poor girl had run away from her parents. She needed refuge, and chose to stay in a motel. At least, that's what happened to him 20 years ago.

"Ok, that can be arranged. How long do you expect to be staying for?"

"Ah...undetermined," Sugar felt her face redden. How much of a delinquent did she seem? A teenage girl wanting a motel room for an undetermined amount of time? _God_, she thought in horror, _he must think I'm an underage prostitute or something_.

The man noticed the girl's blush and decided he didn't need to ask any more questions. He handed her a form to grab her details and went into the backroom to fetch the keys.

Sugar looked down at the form. Could she risk writing down all her personal information? Would that ruin the space-time continuum and change the future forever? _Don't be silly_, she thought, _I'm not going to change this guy's life any time soon_. She finished filling out her details just has the man returned to the desk. He took back the form and scanned it over quickly.

"Well, Sugar, welcome to Motta Motel. Here's the key to your room. If you need anything, feel free to call me," The man decided now was not the time to discuss payment. He felt that he could empathize with the girl's problems, and money was not an important factor.

"Thanks. Sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"Alan Motta. Just call me Al," Al gave Sugar a genuine smile and presented his hand for a handshake.

Sugar was stunned. This was Al Motta; the founder of Motta Industries. She knew that the current-well, future- owner of Motta Industries was a descendent of Al Motta, a wealthy business tycoon who had started off from humble beginnings. Sugar couldn't believe she was standing right in front of him, probably just before he made his mark as a man who would change the future. Sugar reached out and took his warm hand.

"Thanks Al. This really means a lot to me right now,"

"I hope you enjoy your stay. I'll let you go now. Good night!"

Sugar walked past the hallway full of rooms and then looked down at her key. She had been assigned to room 42.

39.

40.

41.

42.

She slipped the key into the hole and opened the door silently. She flicked on the switch and look around her room. On her immediate left was a small kitchen and on her right was a dining table. In front of her was what she deemed the living room with some couches all pointed towards a small television set. Also on her left was a petite bathroom and a bedroom. She flopped onto the bed, immediately recognizing the signs of fatigue. Today had been a long day for Sugar. Only today she had been at school, had a fight with both her moms and snuck out to find herself stuck in the year 2011.

She rubbed her temples and got up from the bed. She would get ready for bed, and plan a strategy to get back to her correct time period tomorrow. However, Sugar realized that she had nothing with her; no pyjamas, no toothbrush. She sighed. Before doing anything, she had to go to the shops and buy some essentials. She would do all that tomorrow. Right now, all she wanted was to sleep. She took her phone out of her pocket and opened the photo album. She found a photo of three people smiling back up with her. In the center was herself, with her arms around two other women; one blonde and one brunette.

_Goodnight_, she whispered to the phone screen before she finally succumbed to sleep.

**A/N: Hi all! I just wanted to thank you guys for reading. I was seriously expecting no one to even consider it, so it's nice to know some of you guys are actually interested. Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter, and stick along for the journey. Have a nice day!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Sugar's eyes flew open. She had a terrible, terrible nightmare that she had a fight with her moms and then somehow found herself lost in the past. She could have almost laughed at the ridiculousness of such a dream, until the realization hit her.

All she could do was cry.

What would her mother's think? Were they missing her right now? Had they woken up to find a pillow stuffed into her blankets and then called the police? Was there a search party happening now, where photos of her face would be stuck on poles, titled 'Beloved daughter missing; $1 billion dollar reward'? Or was the total opposite happening? Were her parents finally glad to rid of a daughter like her and opening champagne bottles to celebrate?

_No, stop it_, Sugar thought, _don't think like this. You will fix the time machine, and be home just in time for breakfast. No one will suspect anything_.

Sugar got out a piece of paper and a pen from the bedside drawer. She wrote right at the top of the piece of paper _'Plans for the Past'_. Her mami would be proud; being the organized one in the family, she was always making lists. After writing the heading, she paused. Well, firstly she needed to go shopping. She had decided that last night when she realized she had no pajamas, other clothes, or any essentials with her. She wrote 'shopping spree' on the paper. She also needed to figure out what time fuel was. Perhaps Al Motta knew something about cars, and could help her. She didn't need to mention anything about time travelling engines, but getting a general overview on car mechanics could possibly help. After writing 'FIX THE DAMN CAR' on her list, she paused again. Once she had fixed the time machine, there was no need for anything else. She'd zip back to the correct era and forget that any of this had ever happened.

Alas, Sugar knew that this wasn't going to be easy. As much as she hated to admit it, she had to be prepared for the worst. How could she live out the rest of her life stuck in the past? She wanted to meet her teenage parents, that much was certain. She could spend a bit more time with her grandparents, since she didn't see them that often in the future. She could write a letter to her parents, explaining that she had travelled to the past, but only allow them to open it in the future. At least they'd know what had happened to their only daughter. No, that didn't make sense. She'd just grow old, alongside her parents. They'd just have a 43 year old daughter when they were 44. Would that mean she could be there to witness her own birth, and exist with her child-form? All this time-space continuum stuff was too confusing.

She left her list on top of the bedside drawer and decided to fulfill her first task.

If she thought all this time travelling was confusing, it was almost nothing compared to navigating the Lima Mall. The mall was reasonably crowded with some people casually window shopping, whilst others ran from store to store, obviously on some sort of mission. She held onto to the strap of her handbag tighter and ventured into the unknown.

The first store she stopped at was a clothing boutique. Racks and racks of tops, pants and everything in between lined the store. Sugar eyed the nearest item; black, skinny leg pants. No one wore things like this in the future. These were just so outdated. Still, Sugar doubted they sold fashion from 2038, and Sugar did need to fit in. She was in the process of grabbing a few items from the racks when the store attendant approached her.

"Hi! Did you need any help there?"

Sugar shook her head, suddenly shy. Was she doing something wrong? Did she already stand out as someone who didn't originate from here?

"If you need to try anything on, we have fitting rooms at the back," the assistant pointed to a small room at the rear of the store.

"Oh, that sounds good," Sugar walked off into one of the cubicles and immediately tried on a pair of pants. The fabric itched and scratched at her skin; it was incredibly uncomfortable. She took off the pants immediately, unable to bare it any longer and looked at the tag. '98% Cotton' it read. _Cotton? Had they not heard of aerodown? _Sugar figured aerodown had not been invented yet and sighed. This would have to do, she had no other choice.

She walked over to the cash register, and was greeted again by the same sales assistant.

"How did they go?" she asked

"They were hella uncomfortable, and quite possibly the worst experience ever. Consider using aerodown in the future. Or at least a lot of fabric softener," Sugar spat. The assistant looked at Sugar in surprise.

"Oh, right, sorry, Asperger's," Sugar explained, as if that was enough to clear the assistant's confusion.

"So...did you still want to buy them?"

"I don't really have much of a choice, do I?"

As the sales assistant went about her business, Sugar looked around the store. Hanging on a rack, she noticed a shirt she hadn't noticed before. In bold print, 'FUTURE IS HERE' was printed across the chest. Should she get it? It'd be funny. No one would suspect a thing, it was just a shirt. She grabbed a few, in different colours of course, and threw them with the other clothes she had bought.

She sat down on a bench in the middle of the mall, bags full of her purchases surrounding her feet. She now understood why humanity had made the transition to online shopping. Manually buying your own things was not only tiring, but incredibly stressful; there were like twenty types of toothbrushes to choose from. How would she know if she wanted a toothbrush with added polisher, or a toothbrush with extra long bristles?

She looked across from where she was sitting and spotted a small coffee shop. That's what she needed, a good strong coffee. She picked up her bags clumsily and headed towards the inviting store, the aroma of ground coffee beans exciting her senses. After ordering her coffee, she sat at a table near the back of the shop and took a sip of her drink, cringing as it burnt her tongue, but savoring the familiar taste anyway. It seemed that coffee had not changed too much from the future, and for that she was grateful.

Two boys, possibly around her age came and sat at the table next to her, one of them carrying their drinks, whilst the other held onto a plate with a slice of cake. Sugar couldn't help but notice that they looked somewhat familiar, but she didn't know where from.

"So you really aren't going to consider transferring to McKinley?"

"But they need me at Dalton and I need them. I don't see why you can't come back to Dalton. Don't you still have the uniform?"

"Come on, it's my senior year. As much as I enjoyed Dalton, my heart is at McKinley. I just want my senior year to be perfect. Oh, and I guess you could be there too," he tucked into the cake and pulled what Sugar assumed to be puppy-dog eyes at the other boy.

"Hey, hey, don't go around doing that. You know how that makes me feel. And leave us some cake will you?"

"Look, you could even join our glee club at McKinley. I'm sure everyone will love to have you with us. We need a few new members, with Sam having to move away. You're already on good terms with most of the club already anyway. You're friends with Finn, Mercedes and Santana. Oh, and I guess there was that momentary lapse of homosexuality where you decided kissing Rachel Berry would be a good idea..."

Sugar missed the other boy's response. Did she just hear what she thought she heard? Santana, Mercedes? She didn't know who Finn was, but she definitely recognized the name 'Rachel Berry'. Surely they weren't talking about _her mami, Santana_ and her _Aunt Mercedes_. She knew that her moms and Aunt Mercedes were a part of the glee club at high school. That was how they met. Aunt Mercedes used to tell Sugar that if it wasn't for glee club, her moms would probably have given her a slushee facial every day. Sugar never understood what that meant; it was probably some old-person metaphor.

It suddenly hit her. She would enroll at William McKinley High School. That was the way to befriend her teenage parents. Perhaps even, she could coerce her mom to tell her how to travel back to the future. Even if she didn't have a time machine now, she probably had some ideas in that brilliant mind. Her mami had always said that her mom had been a genius since the moment they met.

She turned back to the conversation happening at the other table, hoping to grab any other information which could be possibly helpful.

"...coffee's gone cold. I can't believe school starts up again tomorrow. I'm going to miss seeing your face every day," the taller boy pouted.

"We did have a good summer, didn't we?"

"The best."

The boys both sighed and proceeded to stare at each other lovingly. Sugar knew that was the end of any meaningful conversation; when her parents gazed into each other's eyes, Sugar would always roll her own and stomp back to her room. She picked up all her bags with great difficulty and headed back to the car.

So school started up again tomorrow. She'd have to go enroll herself first thing tomorrow morning. But surely schools didn't just accept anyone off the street. She needed more credibility. The answer came to her as she turned into the drive way of the motel. Al Motta. He could pretend to be her dad. He seemed nice enough to do something like that for her. He didn't ask too many questions, and Sugar hoped he'd continue not to do so. If worst came to worst, she'd bribe him with some of her left over money from today's shopping spree.

The person she was just thinking about greeted her at the reception.

"Early morning shopping? Get anything good?" he said in his friendly manner.

"Just a few things. Actually, I wanted to talk to you Mr. Motta,"

"Please, just call me Al,"

"Right. Al. Would you accompany me to William McKinley High School tomorrow?"

"Ah...I guess I could? Do you know someone there?"

Sugar squirmed. The right answer was yes. She knew her moms, and her Aunt Mercedes. "Well, no. I was actually thinking about enrolling there. I want to attend William McKinley High School,"

"Oh. Ok," Al looked slightly uncomfortable, "look, I don't normally pry into the lives of my customers but I really do have to ask, what's your deal?"

Sugar was starting to feel frustrated. What was her deal? Sugar was prepared to insult the man standing in front of him, but she held her tongue. She needed him, and couldn't afford to get into his bad books. "I'm starting a new life here in Lima," she lied, "I had a misunderstanding with my family, and I'm here for a fresh new start," At least the misunderstanding part was somewhat true.

"You know what, I fully understand. I was in a similar position when I was around your age," Al empathized, "if you need someone to talk to, feel free to talk to me,"

"Thanks Al. So is it alright? Can you take me to McKinley tomorrow?"

"Sure kiddo,"

Sugar beamed. Everything was going to plan, for now.

After packing away everything she had bought, Sugar decided to take a look at the time machine's engine. She figured that she might be able to make a better observation now that she had calmed down from time traveling. She opened up hood of the truck and peered in. All she could see were an assortment of wires, tubes and different car components, none of them looking familiar. _Come on! You're Brittany Lopez-Pierce's daughter, this should be in your blood. She used to fix motocross bikes at the age of 14. _Sugar assumed the largest contraption in the center was the engine. It looked old and possibly rusted, as did everything else in the hood. However, to the left, there was one little part which did seem somewhat newer than everything else. Whilst everything seemed brown, and the car itself was an off-white, this little box was silver. She bent over to take a closer look. It was a small box, probably around the size of her jewelry box at home. She unscrewed the cap, and peered inside. It was empty, though the walls of the box were stained red. A sweet and almost familiar odor hit her nose. She couldn't place why the odor smelt familiar, but she almost wanted to taste the remnants of the box to get a clearer picture.

"Watcha doing there kiddo?"

The voice surprised Sugar, and as a consequence she hit her head on the hood of the car in fright. Whilst rubbing the back of her head, she turned to the source of the voice.

"Oh, Al, it's just you. You scared me,"

"Sorry! Having car problems?"

"Ah, sorta. Know anything about cars?"

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but I do consider myself a bit of a skilled mechanic. Don't tell anyone, but I have a hidden stash of blueprints for a couple of ideas that I have, which will revolutionize the future."

Sugar smiled. He wasn't wrong.

"Anyway, what can I do for you?"

Sugar didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell him this was a time machine; that could most definitely prove dangerous.

"Um...well...what do you think went in here?" She pointed to the small box in the left hand corner. Al Motta stood closer and took a glance at the silver box. He frowned and scratched his head. Sugar could have laughed at how comical it looked, except for the fact that he was just as stumped as she was, and she knew she wasn't going to like what he was about to say.

"Well, I doubt that's your fuel tank, but it smells sweet, as if someone's tried to put sugar in your tank. Though some believe that sugar will react with the gasoline, it's all a myth. Sugar doesn't dissolve in petrol. However, it might still clog up the filter, so I'd probably get that checked. If your car is still working however, perhaps it's not so much a problem. I don't know what that box is for though. I've never seen that in a car,"

Sugar's shoulders slumped. Though she knew he wouldn't be able to fix her problem, she was hoping he'd figure something out.

"Doesn't that smell remind you of something?"

"Hmm...you know what, it smells sorta fruity, doesn't it?"

He was right, it did smell fruity. That did narrow her options ever so slightly, yet at the same time made everything so much more confusing. Knowing her mom, she could have used anything as time fuel. That worried Sugar to no end.

"Thanks Al,"

"No problem. You should probably get an early sleep. The first day of school, and a new one at that, is never easy,"

Sugar nodded. She suddenly felt very nervous about tomorrow. All her worst nightmares could become a reality. She couldn't do anything about it, but be prepared for the worst.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"You're going to have to get out of the car sometime kiddo,"

Sugar sits in the passenger seat of Al's car, her hands holding onto the seatbelt tightly and her eyes closed even tighter. She thought she could do it, she thought she could start afresh in a new– well, old– time era, become best friends with her moms and live a double life as a teenager and a time travelling wizard, but arriving in the car park of her moms' old high school set the butterflies in her stomach into a frenzied 'get-me-out-of-here' mode.

"What was I thinking? I don't know what I'm doing here," Sugar frantically says to herself.

"Hey, hey! Calm down Sugar. Look, you're going to be great. You're nervous, that's understandable. You're at a new school, it's your first day. Everything will turn out right, trust me! Come on, let's go get you enrolled!" Sugar can't help but detest the enthusiasm that radiates from Al, but secretly wishes that some of it would rub off on her. She really needs all the help she can get, otherwise she's afraid she might actually vomit. _And what a way to make an entrance at a new school,_ Sugar thinks to herself.

The walk from the car to the principal's office feels like the longest trip Sugar has ever taken. Around her everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, squealing as they spot each other from a distance. Girls give hugs and kisses as the boys handshake each other and wrestle. She catches conversations that go from "how was your summer" to "did you see Julie's new haircut? It looks like a dog did it". The happiness surrounding her makes her think about how lonely she really is in this obscure environment. That is until she realizes that some glances come her way. That's when the loneliness actually hurts. The glances are short and quick, but she notices them nonetheless. She can't really tell if some of them are just from curiosity of actual disdain. All she knows is that she doesn't receive any smiles, and stands closer to Al, hoping that he will block their view of her.

"Here we are," Al turns to Sugar and puts both arms on her shoulders, "take a deep breath Sugar. You're doing great." He takes a step into the office, and Sugar follows closely behind.

"Hello, can I help you?" the lady behind the desk asks, not hiding the lack of enthusiasm in her voice.

"Yes, I'm here to enroll-"

"My daughter," Sugar finishes, avoiding Al's eyes.

"Yes, here to enroll my daughter,"

"Ok, fill out these forms here. Principal Figgins will want to talk to you as well, so sit here, and he can talk to you when he's ready,"

Sugar and Al sit down on the seats and Sugar starts filling out the form. It's silent in the room except for the scratching of Sugar's pen, and the ticking of the clock on the wall.

"So you're my daughter now?" Al asks with a slight humor to his tone.

Sugar stops writing, and looks up at Al, afraid to see any sign of anger in his face. "Um...yeah...about that...I just thought it'd be easier. I didn't want anyone asking any questions. It'll get too complicated, you know,"

Al chuckles and places his finger on the form. "Better change your name to Sugar Motta then." Sugar leaps up and gives Al a giant hug, holding him tightly, attempting to convey the fact that she's grateful for everything he's done for her.

Their moment is broken when the secretary announces that Principal Figgins is ready to see them.

"Al Motta! Long time no see," the man Sugar assumes to be Principal Figgins exclaims. He's wearing a jacket which looks like the material which carpets the motel room floor. Sugar is about to say so, but decides to hold her mouth; she needs to make a good first impression if she wants to be accepted into a new school.

"Figgy! It has been a while, how's everything been?" Al shakes Principal Figgins' hand and gestures for Sugar to sit down.

"School hasn't even started, and I've already got a list of things we need to fix. I think someone has been breaking into the school during the summer. The kids must really miss learning. Anyway, I've been told that you're here to enroll your daughter,"

"Yes, this is Sugar," Principal Figgins extends a hand, and Sugar takes it, disliking the feel of his hands on hers. It feels too hot and sweaty. She quickly retracts her hand, and tries to wipe it clean.

"Nice to meet you Sugar. To be honest Al, I didn't even know you had a daughter,"

Sugar tenses. _Oh great, I've been figured out,_ Sugar thinks, _goodbye McKinley High_.

"Well Figgins, when was the last time I saw you? A good twenty years ago I suspect,"

"Yes, I guess you're right. Well, Sugar, tell me about yourself,"

Sugar looks at the man sitting in front of her, and then to the man sitting beside her. Al gives her a nod of encouragement, and it strangely helps Sugar. "Well, my name is Sugar Lo- I mean, Motta. Sugar Motta. I'm 17. No, 16. I enjoy shopping, though not the way you do it around here. I feel like a slave, carrying bags of my shopping around,"

"Ah, kids and their online shopping," Al interrupts.

"Do you have any referrals from your old schools Sugar?" Principal Figgins asks.

"Err..." Sugar had an inkling this was going to happen, but had prepared nothing to show him.

"Look Figgins, we've only just recently moved here, so we don't have everything with us," Al gets up from his seat and walks towards Principal Figgins, "but could you be lenient with us? You still owe me buddy," He places a hand on the principal's shoulder and squeezes it.

Principal Figgins shifts uncomfortably in his seat and grimaces. Sugar imagines that his hands are getting sweatier and gags at the thought. "Ah, alright. Let's not mention that again, alright? Mrs. Danny-Brown," he calls to his secretary, "set up a timetable for Ms Sugar Motta."

Al and Sugar shake hands with Principal Figgins– sweaty, as Sugar guessed– and walk out of the room. Once they are out of the room, Sugar sighs in relief, and secretly wants to jump in joy, but chooses not to; she still needs to stay impressionable and Principal Figgins can still see them through the glass walls.

"Sugar Motta. So I take it you're a junior? Let me print out your timetable,"

After receiving her timetable, locker number and a rundown of the basic school rules – No Monkeyshines! No Sassback! No Lolligagging! – Sugar and Al step out of the office and head down the hall.

"So why does Principal Figgins owe you? He seemed pretty embarrassed by whatever it was,"

"Ah, don't worry about that. Let's just say Ol' Figgy didn't always follow his own school rules back in the day,"

Sugar smiles and grabs onto Al's arm, squeezing it tightly. "Thank you Al. I really mean it. I couldn't have done this without you,"

"It's no problem. It's what any good parent would do," Sugar slows down her pace and thinks of her own parents, and the feeling of loneliness returns. She stops herself though, because she knows that her moms are somewhere in the same building as her, and this immediately excites her, along with a new wave of nervousness. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean anything by what I said, I'm sure your father is a great man," Al quickly says.

Sugar is slightly confused, but finally understands what Al is talking about. She is about to correct him about having a father when a man wearing a vest and jeans– a bad fashion choice, even in the future– approaches.

"Al? Al Motta? Hey! I haven't seen you in years! What are you doing here?"

"Wow, Will Schuester. I forgot you worked here. I'm here to take my...erm...daughter, Sugar," Al winks at her, "to school. It's her first day here at McKinley,"

"Nice to meet you Sugar," He extends a hand to Sugar and she gladly notes that it is less sweaty than Principal Figgins. "Al, do you still own that piano store?"

"Of course I do Will. Motta's Music. My first ever store. Wouldn't close it even if you paid me to,"

"That's so great. I actually have a favor to ask you,"

"Sure," he turns to Sugar and addresses her, "I'm going to talk to Will here, so will you be alright settling in?"

Sugar nods. "Of course. I'm sixteen, not six. I'll be fine,"

"Great. Shall I pick you up tonight?"

"No, no, I can walk back to the motel. It's fine," Al gives Sugar a quick hug and walks off with Will, leaving Sugar behind. She takes a hesitant step forward but stops almost immediately. Sugar realizes that she has no idea where she is headed. She looks in front of her to find a flight of stairs, to her right is the hallway she just walked through with Al, and to her left is the school's entrance. As much as she'd love to turn left and escape, Sugar finds herself searching her timetable, hoping to find an answer. The hallways are emptier than before, and Sugar assumes that most of the students are now settling into their first classes.

Sugar is suddenly startled when someone thrusts a blue microphone into her face. She jerks away and finds a boy with a mushroom-shaped head of hair in front of her. She's never seen someone with hair that shape before, and she has a strange urge to touch it. However, the idea is quickly diminished when he opens his mouth and she can feel spit flying into her face.

"And we seem to have come across a newbie to the school. Tell my followers your name,"

"Err...my name is Sugar," she replies, unsure of what is happening.

"Sugar eh? Well, how about letting me be your sugar daddy?" The boy raises his eyes brows and steps closer to Sugar, to which Sugar promptly backs away. She's heard that line many times before and it never fails to infuriate her.

"You can stop that right now, you jerk. The only thing you're going to be a sugar daddy to is your own hand, because no girl is ever want to touch you, even if you paid her ten million dollars and a tank of oil," Sugar spits.

"A tank of oil?"

Sugar at first is confused. Oil is a rarity. But Sugar then realizes that oil is a rarity in the year 2034, not 2011. She silently admonishes herself for the simple mistake, and tries to quickly cover herself. "Asperger's" she says, satisfied. Unfortunately this confuses the boy even further, but luckily he does not discuss it. "Look, either get out of my way, or help me," she says with as much confidence as she can muster. She doesn't wait for his response and continues. "I need to find room 14,"

The boy's face lights up, and actually smiles, showing a large gap between his teeth, to which Sugar can't stop staring at; teeth are straightened from a young age in the future, crooked teeth are a thing of the past. "You're a junior as well? If you're in room 14, you've got home room with me. I guess you may as well follow me," he says.

Sugar is disappointed to know that she's in the same home room class as this boy, but at the same time she's grateful to find someone who can at least help her. "Jacob Ben Israel," he says, offering a hand. Sugar ignores the hand and walks ahead. She stops after a few paces, realizing that she has no idea where she's headed. She turns back around to face Jacob, and finds his eyes directed south.

"Eyes up here mushroom head. I don't know where I'm going, so hurry up," Sugar scowls. Jacob looks up, flustered, and scampers ahead, Sugar following behind.

They finally reach room 14, and Sugar is greeted by a frumpy old lady who introduces her to the class as 'Mugar Sotta'.

"Ok lady, it's Sugar Motta, get it right. And what kind of name is Hagberg? It's like a witch had a baby with a giant block of ice." The room is silent, though some students try to stifle their laughter behind their hands while others leave their mouths hanging wide open. "Sorry, Asperger's" Sugar says immediately, yet she garners no laughter or understanding as she would if she repeated the same thing in the future. _Tough crowd,_ Sugar thinks to herself as she finds a seat near the back of the room.

Sugar surveys the room. Most of the other students sit casually around desks, talking animatedly about their summer holidays. Closest to her is a boy with glasses, sitting in a wheelchair, talking quietly to a girl with black hair and a round face. Sugar definitely recognizes the boy from her mom's old year books. She remembers laughing at the wheelchair being such an ancient contraption, since wheelchairs are as rare as oil in the future; hoverchairs are the preferred method of transportation in the future. For both disabled and abled people. The pair look up and notice Sugar staring at them, so she quickly tries to hide her face, but they smile at her, and she smiles back, glad to at least see some friendly faces at the school.

"Hi! I'm Tina, and this is Artie,"

"Welcome to McKinley," the boy adds, "what you said up there with Hagberg was pretty badass, girl,"

"Thanks...and...um...thanks?" Sugar replies quietly. They make small conversation until the bell rings, and everyone in the classroom starts to move.

"It was nice meeting you Sugar, perhaps we'll see you around," Tina says as she collects her books from the table. Artie nods at Sugar and follows after Tina, leaving Sugar behind, and feeling very lost.

Sugar figures that she should find her locker first, so she can drop off her bag. She finds her locker relatively easily, as they're all in numerical order, however the lock itself proves to be difficult. She's not used to such primal mechanisms; keycards are all used in the future, plus all her textbooks are loaded onto her tablet and lockers are only used for keeping sport uniform.

What she learns in classes throughout the day is not so different from what she was learning in the future; it's not like the rules of algebra can change drastically over a thirty year period. Her day proves quite boring actually. Not many people talk to her, and though it gets lonely, she figures that it's for the best. She doesn't want to freak too many people out with her time traveling capabilities. Plus she's on some sort of mission – to find her moms.

The only chance she gets to look for them is during lunch break. She wanders the hallways, the cafeteria and the grounds of the school, yet can't find them anywhere. It's discouraging work, but Sugar figures she'll find them soon. In some of the displays around the school, she finds photos of her moms smiling while holding up large trophies for cheerleading, so Sugar knows she's at the correct school. Even if she doesn't find her moms, at least Sugar now has a good feel for the layout of McKinley. She's about to head into the library, unsure if her parents even studied during lunch breaks, when she bumps into Tina and a tall, lean boy.

"Oh, hi Tina!" Sugar eagerly calls.

"Hey Sugar. How's your first day going?"

"Yeah, it's alright. School is school. My hand hurts from writing. I'm used to typing up my notes,"

"Oh wow, your old school must be pretty technologically advanced. Or rich," Sugar pulls her lips tightly and nods, afraid she might spill more information about her secret identity. "By the way, this is Mike. Mike, this is Sugar Motta. She's new to McKinley,"

Mike smiles warmly. "Nice to meet you Sugar,"

"We better head off Sugar, we just wanted to run some errands before lunch ends," Tina smiles and heads out of the library, when Sugar suddenly calls out for them.

"Tina! Do you know Santana and Brittany Lopez-Pierce?" Sugar realizes her mistake the moment the words tumble out. She gasps and puts a hand to her mouth, but then pretends to yawn, attempting to hide her reaction, and wishing she could somehow force the words back into her mouth.

Tina and Mike both quirk their eyebrows. "Santana and Brittany Lopez-Pierce? We know a Santana Lopez and a Brittany Pierce, if that's what you meant? We haven't seen them since Maths class,"

"Ah, yeah, that's what I said. Unblock your ears. You'd think that two Asians would be smarter than that," Sugar quips.

Mike and Tina's foreheads crease and they both frown. "Yay for Asian stereotypes," Tina says sarcastically and walks away, dragging Mike behind her.

Sugar calls out "Asperger's" but it falls on deaf ears. She shrugs her shoulders, they weren't very helpful anyway. She's about to leave the library when the bell rings again, signaling the end of lunch. She sighs, disappointed that her search for her moms lead to nowhere.

She doesn't think about her moms again until school ends. She figures that if she waits at the entrance of the school, she's bound to see them as they leave. She's sitting on a bench, watching the front entrance of the school, hoping to see some familiar faces, when she's distracted by a large truck parked at the front of the school. On the side of the truck is a picture of a piano and the words 'Motta's Music'. She walks up to the truck, and finds Al opening up the back of the truck, revealing a number of pianos, all colored purple.

"Al? What are you doing here? I told you I'd walk back to the motel," Sugar asks, inspecting the contents of the truck with curiosity.

"Hey Sugar. I'm actually here to deliver some old pianos to Will Schuester. He said he wanted them for some sort of project he's got in mind for his glee club. Actually, could I ask you for a favor? Can you wait here with the truck, I'm just going to go find Will and tell him the pianos have arrived,"

Sugar nods and stands by the truck while Al runs to the school in search of Will Schuester. Sugar's standing there for a minute, when she suddenly remembers her plan to keep an eye out for her moms. She looks around the school, but is gravely disappointed to see the school nearly empty already, and she doesn't recognize any of the lingering faces. Al returns later with Will and a gang of pimply boys, ready to deliver the pianos. Sugar gives them a hand, though she mostly hovers around, helping the boys steer the pianos, making sure no one bumps into anything. They arrive outside a classroom which Sugar only remembers passing without interest on her hunt for her moms during lunch.

"Ok, let's leave the pianos out here for now. I'm going to go talk to the glee club, and bring them in when I cue you to,"

Sugar leans against the door frame and hears chatter from within the room.

"Hey Brittany. Do you know someone called Sugar Motta? She was looking for you and Santana during lunch,"

"Sugar Motta? Nope, never heard of the name. She sounds tasty though," The voice makes Sugar's heart leap and pound against her chest. She tentatively peers into the classroom and sees a bunch of kids, immediately recognizing Artie, Mike and Tina. Next to them, she sees two girls wearing the McKinley cheerleading uniform with hair tied up in tight ponytails, their arms linked together.

She's finally found her moms.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

She's frozen and rooted to the spot. She's finally found what she's been looking for and she knows she should be excited and relieved, but she doesn't feel any of that. Instead she's terrified.

Sugar had spent all day searching for her moms, yet she never planned what she would say to them once she found them. She couldn't exactly go up to them and tell them that she was their daughter from the future, and she had come to visit them (unexpectedly) because she stole one of their time machines by accident (well, sort of). She'd give them both fatal heart attacks and then cease to exist all together. And that is definitely counter-productive.

Sugar conceals her body behind the wall, only allowing her head to peer into the classroom. Though she knows it's silly, since both her parents don't know she exists, she feels better knowing that she's playing it safe. She stands there, watching her moms interact with their friends. Her mami is the shorter of the two, and her arm is linked with her mom, who is innocently playing with the ends of her cheerleading skirt. Both of them are gangly as if they are only just starting to get used to their adult bodies. It was hard to imagine young, teenage versions of her moms, but seeing them in the flesh makes her smile. Though she can only see the backs of their bodies, there's still something about them that seems so familiar. To Sugar, it's home.

"Where were you two during lunch by the way?" Tina asks the pair.

The two look at each other, and a secret passes between them. Sugar's seen the looks on both their faces almost too often to know that they were up to something sneaky, yet Tina doesn't seem to notice.

"The library. We were studying. It's our senior year Tina. We have to work hard if we want to get into college," Santana says matter-of-factly. Brittany leans into Santana and whispers into her ear. Sugar swears she hears _or in your pants, _but she's sure that she's just imagining things.

"Oh, that's weird, Mike and I were in the library as well and we didn't see you there."

"We were looking at the really old books at the back of the library. It's quieter since nobody goes there," Santana replies. Brittany smiles at Tina and then pulls Santana into one of the chairs which face the front of the classroom, meaning that they're finally facing Sugar, and she can get a good glimpse of her moms. Their faces are the same, except for the absence of a few wrinkles. Her mami is smiling at Brittany like she always has, and Brittany tugs at a loose strand of hair and tucks it behind Santana's ear, causing her to blush. None of the other glee members are watching the pair, and Sugar feels like she's intruded on something private, even though she's seen her moms do that to each other every single day.

Sugar is suddenly startled when a hand lands on her shoulders, and she nearly shrieks out loud. She turns around and Al is looking at her with concern.

"You alright there? Sorry If I gave you a fright," he says quietly.

Sugar wants to yell at him, but she's still afraid that her moms will berate her, which would be weird since they have no idea who she is, but still. Instead she nods her head. She's about to turn her head back to watch her moms, but she can hear Will Schuester talking to the group.

"You want a ride home? I think they don't need us anymore, the boys will help push the pianos into the room," Al offers.

Sugar is torn between staying and watching her moms, and leaving with Al because she is still unsure about how to approach them. In the end, Sugar figures that there is no good way to introduce herself right at this moment so she decides to take Al's offer. She takes one quick glance at her mothers (her mom is now playing with her mami's skirt), and follows Al back to the parking lot. Sugar isn't sure, but she swears she sees both her moms turn their heads slightly and watch her leave.

Once she's sitting in the truck, Al asks, "So, how was your first day of school?"

Sugar stops herself from rolling her eyes at the clichéd question, but is grateful that Al cares enough to ask. "Tiring," she says in reply.

Al chuckles and nods his head. "It's high school," he says, as if that's the answer to everyone's problems.

"Al, you don't happen to know Santana Lopez or Brittany Pierce do you?" Sugar isn't sure why she's asking Al. Perhaps she thinks that if she can get as much information about her teenage moms, it'll make their inevitable meeting much easier.

"I don't think I do. Why? Were they giving you trouble at school?"

Sugar shakes her head, and is touched by Al getting defensive. "No, no, I was just curious. You make a great dad by the way," Sugar says, reminding herself of events from earlier in the day.

Al laughs and puts a hand on Sugar's shoulder. "And you make a great daughter." There's sincerity in his voice, and it washes all over Sugar.

Back in the motel room, Sugar dumps her belongings on the ground and kicks off her shoes. She goes into her bedroom and grabs the list she made the other day from the top of her bedside table. At the top, in her own messy writing, she spots '_Plans for the Past'._ Underneath, she's written and crossed out '_shopping spree'_ and all that remains is _'FIX THE DAMN CAR'._ Directly underneath, she scribbles _'befriend teenage moms'._

Sugar then starts imagining up possible scenarios of how she would introduce herself to her mothers. She reckons she shouldn't tell them that she's their daughter, in case it ruins the space-time continuum, but she can at least get to know them. Does she pretend to bump into them around the school, and introduce herself? _No,_ Sugar thinks, _it's just be a one off thing, and I want to actually become their friend. _Does she sit next to them in the cafeteria, and strike up a conversation? _It's a possibility, but I'm not sure how often they hang out at the cafeteria. _Does she follow them to the back of the library, and pretend to study with them? _You can't talk in the library. Plus I'm not even sure if they're actually studying._ Sugar shakes her head at this, and tries to rid of any mental pictures that form in her mind. Unfortunately for Sugar, she's quite sure she doesn't have any classes with them, considering she's a junior, and they're seniors, so she has no luck in that compartment.

Fatigue finally hits Sugar, and she's yawning and rubbing her eyes as she places her list back onto the bedside table. She figures that whatever happens will happen. Lima is a small town, and she'll meet them, no matter what. She's had a long day today, and for now, sleep is waiting for her.

* * *

The next day, she fails yet again to spot her parents at school. She's confused. The school isn't that large, and Sugar's so sure that she's looked in every nook and cranny to look for them, yet it seems as if they've disappeared off the face of the planet. She wishes that she could ask some of the other students, but Sugar hasn't made many friends. It's hard to talk to people in this era, especially with the large generation gap. No one seems to understand her jokes and references, and vice versa. It's a lonely feeling. All the more reason to meet her parents. They'd be understanding. They're her moms.

During recess, Sugar isn't sure where else to go, so she heads to the library, secretly hoping to bump into her parents. Instead she browses the shelves. She has to get started on some of her homework, and figures that people still use books these days. She would use the internet, but she finds it incredibly primeval and difficult to navigate, so she sticks to books.

She's casually browsing the books, unsure of what she's actually looking for (or doing for that matter) when her eyes fall on some books about cars. She's about to pick one out, hoping to find an answer to her time machine problems, when she hears giggling coming from behind the shelves. And very familiar giggling at that. She takes some books off the shelf to garner a better view, and spots two cheerleaders huddled incredibly closely together. There's books on their desks, but they're untouched and ignored as her parents have only eyes for each other. Sugar feels the urge to just walk up to them and introduce herself, but stops herself. Instead, she creeps around the shelves, hoping to get a closer view of the pair. She's hiding behind a shelf full of old, dusty books, when someone clears their throat behind her and startles Sugar. She quickly turns around to see the librarian staring down at her.

"Did you leave those books off the shelf over there?" She points to the area where Sugar initially heard her parent's whispers.

"No," Sugar lies.

"Weren't you the last person there? Couldn't you have returned the books back onto the shelves anyway?"

"Can't you do it yourself? Isn't that your job? You're a pretty lousy librarian," Sugar huffs. She grabs the nearest book off the shelf and storms off. Before leaving, she quickly looks at her moms, and they've moved away from each other. She also can see a hint of a smirk on her mami's face. As if she's amused at all the commotion that Sugar's caused.

* * *

It's during her next lunch break when things pick up. She's sitting at the cafeteria, flicking through the book she picked off the shelf: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. She can barely understand the language being used in the book, and the book is so old that its pages are stained yellow, but no one close by wants to interact with her, so she chooses to look busy by reading the book.

She's engrossed by the book when a sudden thumping distracts her. She can not only hear the thumping, but the table and floor are vibrating as well. She looks up from her book and all she sees is a flurry of red and white. She continues to gaze up, and dancing in front of her is her mom. Sugar gasps and nearly falls from her seat, but quickly tries to hide her face behind her book. She peeks over the top of her book and continues to watch her mom, and then her mami, jumping up and down on the cafeteria table tops. She looks around, and there's a bunch of kids surrounding her, all of them belting out a song. She recognizes Tina, Mike and Artie, and there's other faces she doesn't recognize. Sugar is absolutely terrified. Do kids in this decade normally break out into song and dance, because nothing like this happens in the future. Is she expected to join in? She slowly lowers her book, and turns back to watch her moms, but they're gone, and dancing on top of other tables. She cranes her neck to search for them again, and her mom is lying on a table full of other cheerleaders, and Jacob Ben Israel is actually filming up her skirt. She wants to stand up and smack him on the back of his head, but her mom quickly stands up, and she's now fake-shooting a gun, and Sugar's quite sure she's just possibly seen the funniest thing her teenage mom has done. Her mouth quirks into a smile, and her she's tapping her toe and quite enjoying the performance. Unexpectedly, her mami then jumps back onto the table Sugar is sitting at, and dancing directly in front of her. Sugar wants to reach out and touch her mami, just to make sure she's the real deal and not a visual illusion, but stops herself, because having a stranger stroke your calf is strange, even in the future. Up close, she can hear her moms singing along, and Sugar beams. She's missed this. Her moms sang all the time back home, and it tugs at her heart. Her mami jumps off the table, and is replaced by a boy with a strange, furry, dark caterpillar parked in the center of his head. He's doing push-ups and looking directly at her. He's smirking, and then winking at her, and Sugar raises her book to hide her blush.

The singing group then congregate at the front of the cafeteria, and they pose with cheesy grins and outstretched arms as they finish off their number. There's a second of silence, where Sugar is ready to applaud them, but instead Jacob shouts "FOOD FIGHT!" and chaos ensues.

Sugar isn't sure what happens next, except that food is being thrown everywhere, and she screams when mashed potato is thrown at the back of her head. She tries to use her book to protect her, but it's useless. She wants to look up and see what her moms make of this (she's used to being told off about playing with food at home), but she's too preoccupied with her own safety. The best Sugar can do is hide under the table, and hope that the commotion will die down. She hears the shrill of a whistle being blown, and everyone freezes. She looks out from under her hiding spot to see a large lady with curly brown hair and a silver whistle at her lips. As soon as everyone notices the source of the whistle, there's even more commotion as everyone scrambles to escape. Sugar doesn't want to be left behind, so she jumps up and follows everyone out of the cafeteria. The first place she thinks of going to is the bathroom, where she can hide in a cubicle, and pretend she was in the toilet the whole time.

As it turns out, a lot of other people have the same idea as her, and the bathroom is full. So she turns to face the mirror and looks at the damage. She's got mashed potato stuck to her hair, and there's spaghetti sauce on her chest and white singlet. She looks around her, and there are girls who fared worse than her, so she's glad for that. Nevertheless, the clothes are new, and she's feeling incredibly sticky, so she wets some toilet paper and starts cleaning herself off. While trying to get as much potato out of her hair, she overhears a group of nearby girls talking.

"...think they can do anything because they went to New York last year."

"They came twelfth for crying out loud. But that's what they do. Remember when they sang in the courtyard last year when they needed to recruit more people? Why can't they just be normal and have sign-up sheets like the rest of the other clubs?"

"As if anyone's going to want to join them now. Who would ever want to join Glee club? That's just embarrassing."

"Did you see me hit Rachel Berry with my pasta? I've wanted to do that since grade school."

The last thing Sugar hears before leaving the bathroom is laughter from the girls. So the performance was an attempt to recruit more Glee club members. It then instantly hits Sugar. The way to get close to her parents is by joining the Glee club. Since she doesn't have any classes with them, it'll be the only way she can see them on a regular basis. Sugar tries to recall any memories she has of her parents talking about Glee club, but her memory fails her. All she can remember is seeing group photos in her moms' old yearbooks. Sugar's not worried about her lacking memory, she's sure something will come up soon. For now, she needs to get into the club, stat.

She reaches the choir room, and spots a disheveled Glee club, moping as they clean themselves from the food fight. She quickly spots her parents sitting down at the back of the room, both with dirtied rags in their hands. Her mom looks down her own top, and says something, but Sugar is too far away to hear anything. Then a familiar voice rings out.

"Not one single person was inspired by our hot lunch jam to try out, Mr. Schue." It's her Aunt Mercedes, and Sugar is overwhelmed to see her. She's also reminded of the conversation she overheard in the bathroom and figures that it's her cue to introduce herself.

"It's true," Sugar quips, "You guys sucked ass." Sugar figures that if she acts like the Glee club are desperate, they'll be more than willing to accept her into the club. She's about to explain her immediate rudeness by blaming Asperger's but she's interrupted.

"I-I'm sorry. And you are?" a beaky girl retorts.

"I'm Sugar Motta, and I have self-diagnosed Asperger's so I can pretty much say whatever I want." Everyone is giving her a strange look, and Sugar starts to worry that they're already dismissing her, so she tries for a joke, just like her mom taught her. "I'm like a diplomat's daughter."

Silence.

"How can we help you Sugar?" Mr. Schuester asks.

Since no one is responding to her jokes, Sugar decides to take her mami's advice: be straight forward. "Here's the deal: I'm awesome and I want to be a big, big star (she commends herself for coming up with such a good alibi in such short notice). And when I saw you guys singing and dancing in the cafeteria, I thought; I am so much better than you." They all pull a face, and Sugar knows she's gone too far. "Sorry, Asperger's."

"Well, great! You see guys, you have inspired an audition. Good Job!" He turns to face Sugar, "Sugar, show us what you can do. You know, take your time, whenever you're ready."

Sugar's frozen. She thought they'd just accept her. Weren't they desperate for members? She wasn't prepared for an audition. But she looked up, and straight to her moms. Though her mami looked slightly annoyed (Sugar was used to seeing that face), her mom did look somewhat hopeful. And as did a few other faces.

She racked her brains for a suitable song to sing. She didn't dare to sing any of the songs she would normally listen to in the future. Those songs hadn't been written yet (and some of the singers weren't even born). Instead, she looked at her handbag, and was immediately reminded of a song her mami sang once to her mom when she received her first big paycheck from her role in her new TV show, which resulted in the two rolling around on the floor as they wiped away tears full of laughter from their eyes. It was one of the moments that she had seen her parents at their happiest.

She walked past the man sitting at the piano and whispered her song choice in his ear. He nodded silently, which Sugar took as a sign of understanding. At least she hoped he had understood. His mouth hadn't opened to object.

"Get ready to taste some sweet earcandy," Sugar said. She had heard someone earlier say this in the hallway, and though she didn't really understand the meaning, she thought it sounded correct in this context. She turned back to the piano man and winked. "Hit it hottie!"

She stood in the middle of the choir room, with her back turned to the Glee club. Glee club was all about singing and dancing, right? She was going to impress them in both those areas. She waved her arms and kicked her legs. She pointed at them for dramatic effect, luring them into accepting her into their club. After finishing her number, she threw her arms up, ready to accept their applause. However, there was silence, and everyone looked stunned. She was sure they were just stunned at her fabulousness. She looked over at her parents, and her mom was grinning. Sugar beamed back in return.

"Sugar..." Mr. Schuester started.

"Text me with our rehearsal schedge," Sugar stated.

"Of course-"

"Ok, uh, Sugar, We'll be in touch," the beaky girl said quickly with a big smile.

Sugar was excited at the prospect of joining the Glee club with her moms. "Thank you! Bye!" she said over her shoulder, as she patted the piano man's head and left the room.

Everything was finally falling into place. She would be a part of the Glee club and friends with her moms in no time. She'd get to know them for a while, and if she was lucky, perhaps she could extract some ideas from her mom about time travelling fuel, and be back home in time for breakfast. Things were looking up.

* * *

**A/N: Hi all! I'm back from my hiatus, and ready to finish this off. I reread my story to remind myself what I had written, and I found so many typos, I wanted to cry. Why you guys continue to read this astounds me.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

A tall blonde in some form of sports uniform intercepted Sugar just as she was about to enter her Maths classroom. Sugar had to crane her neck up to look into the stranger's face. Her eyes were narrowed and scanned Sugar's face, her lips were thin and formed a slight smirk. "Oh, sorry, excuse me," Sugar said as she tried to side step the woman blocking her route.

The lady didn't move an inch.

"So I hear you tried out for that sorry excuse for a glee club."

Sugar stopped trying to bypass the woman, and looked back up at her face. _How did she know? Was my audition that good, that everyone's talking about it?_ Sugar thought. "I did..." Sugar answered hesitantly.

"I'm glad to hear of it. Those pitiful kids need a boost after what happened to them last year. Traveled all the way to the big city of dreams only to have theirs crushed. Their first nationals competition, and they placed twelfth. An embarrassment to the school and frankly, to themselves. And their poor leader; could have shone on Broadway, but the only thing that reflected light was his greased up wig."

"Why do you care so much about the glee club?" Sugar asked.

"Let's just say I've always had an invested interest in the glee club. We have to cherish the performing arts in schools, it's...well...a dying art."

Sugar nodded in reply. She didn't exactly join the glee club to try to save the performing arts. She just wanted to get closer to her moms. "I don't actually know if I'm in the glee club yet. I only auditioned a few days ago." She wasn't worried that she hadn't gotten an answer about her position in the glee club yet. She was sure that they were being polite and allowing other people to audition before telling her the good news.

"You don't know yet? If I were you, I'd march straight up to Mr. Schuester and demand to know. Actually, word on the street is that you blew them all away with your audition, so I'd just go straight to the choir room for your first rehearsal!"

Sugar's eyes brightened and she beamed from excitement. "Thanks...ah...sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"Coach Sue Sylvester."

"Thanks Coach Sue Sylvester! I can't wait to be a part of glee club!" Sue swiftly turned to walk away, but Sugar stopped her. "Sorry Coach, how did you know I tried out for glee club? You never told me."

"I have ears and eyes all around this school. In your case, Sandbags notified me." Sue turned back around and walked down the hallway, through a parting of students. Sugar had no idea who or what Sandbags was, but she mentally reminded herself to thank them. Or It.

She sat down at her desk and opened up her textbook just as her teacher entered the classroom. She stared blankly at the equations presented in front of her, but nothing was being processed. She was too distracted with thoughts of hanging out with her moms. She was excited with the prospect of having the chance to dance and sing with her moms, like she used to when she was younger. She used to put on little performances for her parents. Her mom would sometimes join in, and her mami would record the both of them on her phone. Reminiscing her childhood reminded her that she was far, far away from her parents and people who loved her, despite the fact that physically, they were less than a mile away, somewhere on the school grounds. She was startled when the person sitting next to her elbowed her arm. Sugar was about to yell at their rudeness, but she noticed that everyone's eyes were focused on her. She looked up at the front of the classroom to find her teacher's brow furrowed and staring directly at her.

"Glad to finally have your attention Miss Motta. I have a question for you to solve: what's the probability of you listening in class, given that I've just made you move to the front of the classroom?" Her teacher pointed to an empty seat, close to the teacher's own desk, her foot tapping in impatience.

Sugar winced and her face reddened in embarrassment. She gathered up her belongings and quickly moved to the front as everyone snickered.

She was putting away her books in her locker when she felt someone's presence beside her.

"Oh, Mr. Schuester! I was just about to go find you. Yes, I'm quite happy to join the glee club. When's the next rehearsal?" She rummaged around in her locker to find a pen and her planner, ready to note down the schedule, but she heard the man sigh.

"About that Sugar...you didn't get into glee club. Perhaps you can try again next year?"

Sugar stopped scouring the bottom of her bag and turned to face Mr. Schuester. "I didn't get in?" Sugar said calmly.

"No, not this time. Your audition was great, but it just wasn't strong enough. But thank you so much for trying out."

Sugar slammed her locker. "Obviously your ears are busted because I worked that song like a hooker pole." Sugar stopped herself, and calmed down. She needed to get into that glee club, and shouting at the teacher in charge was not going to help. She took in a deep breath. "It's no biggie, I'll come in and I'll do it again."

"Sugar, I'm sorry...you...you can't sing. The answer is no. But I love your enthusiasm. I'd be so happy to work with you and your sing-"

"You know what? Who cares what you think, hmm? Nobody," she interrupted, "you're a washed up Broadway wannabee, who's stuck in Lima and has led the glee club to how many national wins? Oh, I'm sorry, zero. Not Asperger's!" She huffed and stomped away from her locker. As she was leaving, she thought she heard Sue Sylvester's drawl but she refused to turn around out of sheer stubbornness. She didn't want Will Schuester to see her face. She didn't want him to see her hurt.

Sugar was lost. She was so sure that she was going to get into the glee club that she didn't have a plan B. She genuinely didn't think she would need one. Now that her only plan had gone bust, Sugar had no idea what to do now. She was starting to become desperate. She was stuck in the past and had no way to get back. Did she resort to desperate measures and just go straight up to her teenage moms and confess everything that had happened, and hope for the best? Perhaps they'd be nice enough to take her in and look after her. After all, she was family.

Sugar continued walking down the hallway, not looking where she was headed, not that she knew where she was headed in the first place. Students bumped into her, but Sugar didn't have the strength to yell at anybody. It wasn't until she finally knocked head first into another person that she was stopped in her tracks.

"Sorry," Sugar muttered. She was about to walk off, when she looked at the person she had bumped into. "Aunt Mercedes!"

Mercedes looked at Sugar incredulously. "What did you call me?"

Immediately, Sugar noticed her mistake and almost wanted to run away. "I said _aren't_ you Mercedes?"

"Oh, I thought you said…never mind…yeah, I'm Mercedes. Why do you ask?"

"I…uh…you're in the glee club, aren't you?"

"Yeah…you tried out the other day, didn't you?" Sugar wanted to smile because her Aunt Mercedes remembered her, but she was reminded of her earlier conversation.

"Mr. Schuester just rejected me."

"Oh, that's…unfortunate?" The tone in her voice rose, causing it to come out more like a question, but Sugar was too busy studying Mercedes to notice it. Sugar noted that Mercedes' face hadn't changed one bit from her teenage years. She dressed slightly differently, but otherwise, she was the same. While her mothers were both beautiful as women and aged gracefully, Mercedes apparently had not aged one bit. Sugar reminded herself to tell her Aunt Mercedes that fact in the future. Seeing Aunt Mercedes also reminded Sugar of her best friend. Being in a different time dimension didn't only mean that she was away from her family. It also meant that she was away from her friends. Ava looked more like her father than her mother. She was tall and athletic, which helped as she played a lot of sports. However, she had her mother's attitude and most importantly, kindness.

"It really sucks. I really needed to get into the glee club."

"You need to get into the glee club? Why do you _need_ to get into the glee club?"

"Well…my life depends on it," Sugar started. It wasn't a lie. If she didn't talk to at least her mom, she had no idea how she'd get home to her proper time. But Sugar did realize how dramatic it must have sounded to Mercedes. "Since you're in the glee club, perhaps you could talk to Mr. Schuester? Convince him to let me join?"

"Ah, I dunno. Mr. Schuester's pretty stubborn. And I'll never hear the end of it from Rachel." Sugar didn't know who Rachel was, but Sugar disliked her already. She was prepared to hate anybody who was going to stand in her way of getting in contact with her parents. Sugar's shoulders sagged as she let out an audible sigh. She didn't know what else she could do. She was close to losing hope.

Mercedes looked at the girl in front of her and felt pity. She knew Sugar was never going to be able to join the glee club. The girl didn't have a musical bone in her body, and they needed to win nationals this year, especially since it was her senior year and last chance at the trophy. Having Sugar in the club would only jeopardize their chances. "If you're so desperate to get into a glee club, why don't you just buy your own glee club? Isn't your dad rich or something?" Mercedes joked as she patted the girl's shoulder.

Sugar chuckled at the suggestion and shrugged her shoulders. She turned her head and looked at the notice board that they were standing next to. Right beside Mercedes was a sheet titled 'School Musical: West Side Story Auditions'. Sugar fondly remembered attending a production of West Side Story during a vacation to New York City with her parents, where afterwards they had gone to get hot chocolate. The first thing that caught her eye was the light reflecting off a golden star beside the name 'Rachel Berry'. The second thing that she noticed was Mercedes' name at the bottom. "You're auditioning?"

"Of course. I'm going to be Maria," Mercedes answered confidently. Sugar nodded. She didn't doubt that Mercedes was going to get the part of Maria. In the future, she was a retired-singer-turned-singing-teacher. Back home, her moms had all of Mercedes' albums, right at the top of their digital playlists. Christmas time meant hearing Mercedes' voice playing 24/7 throughout the house as her Christmas album -Merry Mercedes and the Christmasettes- was played on a continuous loop. With a voice like hers, she had no competition for the female lead. Sugar looked back at the list and looked at the other names. Two names jumped out at her, one after the other. _Santana Lopez. Brittany Pierce._ Reading her mom's names caused her heart to jump, and then race at 100 miles an hour. She should have known. After watching West Side Story on Broadway, her mom had said that her mami did a better job as Maria, and her mami had given her mom a kiss on the cheek and grinned like a smitten sixteen year old.

If she wasn't going to get in the glee club any time soon, joining the school musical was her next best option. She grabbed the pen that was hanging off the clipboard and wrote her name. She was about to write her actual surname, but quickly backtracked and wrote 'Motta' after her name.

"You're trying out?" Mercedes asked. Sugar missed the skepticism in Mercedes' voice, and nodded brightly.

"The show will need a star to have some sort of credibility."

"You touch Maria, and I will cut you," Mercedes threatened. She locked her eyes with Sugar before promptly turning around and walking away.

"Asperger's," Sugar whispered uselessly. Mercedes' sudden departure surprised Sugar and left her disappointed. She figured that teenage Mercedes wasn't used to her antics. It was nice finally talking to someone familiar, however brief it was. Sugar wasn't worried though. She was sure that she would bump into Mercedes again, plus she had more pressing matters. She was going to audition for the school musical.

* * *

She leaned back, allowing her weight to pull the front door of the reception open. The door opened with a groan, allowing a rush of cool air from the air conditioner to consume her body. As usual, she spotted Al Motta sitting at the front desk, reading a newspaper. The sound of Sugar entering the room caused him to look up, and lower his newspaper. "How was school?" he asked.

Sugar shrugged nonchalantly and mumbled, "fine" as she took her bag off her shoulder. The fatherly tone didn't pass Sugar unnoticed, and it warmed her as much as it created a longing ache for her real parents.

Al chuckled at Sugar's answer. _Teenagers_, he thought to himself. He expected Sugar to continue straight up to her room, but she remained standing in the foyer, fidgeting with the handles of her bag. He folded up his newspaper and placed it on the table in front of him. He put his elbows on top of the newspaper and rested his chin in his hands. "Are you alright there Sugar?"

Sugar took two tentative steps up to the counter. She looked at Al and saw nothing but empathy in his eyes. Sugar felt safe and in caring hands. If she thought it wasn't offensive to her moms, she would have happily called Al _home_. In her current predicament though, she guessed that Al was the best _home_ she was going to get. "I got rejected from the glee club today," Sugar let out.

"The glee club? No way! I just gave Will Schuester and his glee club free pianos. I'm going to have a talk to him and tell him to reconsider his choices."

"He said I can't sing."

"I'm sure that's not the case. Go on, show me your stuff. Or should I say let me hear your stuff?" Al gestured to the floor, as if a spotlight shone on that exact same spot where Sugar was standing.

Ready to prove everyone wrong, Sugar opened her mouth and let out a few garbled notes before Al shouted "Okay, okay!" over the top of her voice.

"So perhaps you just need a few singing lessons. Practice makes perfect. Then Schuester will have to say yes."

"I dunno…"

"It's not the end of the world if you don't get into glee club. Try out for some other clubs. I'm sure there are heaps at McKinley. You can always try out for glee club again next year."

Sugar understood what Al was trying to do, but nevertheless, Sugar was not feeling any better. She didn't want to wait until next year until she could re-audition for glee club. She didn't want to be stuck in the year 2011 for longer than necessary. She couldn't stand the thought of being away from her family, friends, and time era for a full month let alone a full year.

"I'm trying out for the school musical though."

"That's great to hear! Try different things, it's the only way you'll find something you like. And if not, at least you'll get to experience many different fields. Look at me. I own a music store and a motel, and I'm just starting out in the technology industry. I'm still undecided about what I'm interested in and I'm an old geezer! Well, at least I'm young at heart, right?"

Though Al was missing the point entirely, Sugar still felt grateful to have met Al, and was touched by his sentiments.

"You should start up your own glee club. Imagine beating the original McKinley glee club with your new glee club. That'd show them," Al joked.

However, Sugar looked up at the suggestion. The thought of starting a new glee club to beat the original glee club made Sugar salivate. If you can't join them, beat them. At least that's how Sugar thought the saying went. The rejection from the club had hit her hard. Her parents had always enjoyed Sugar's performances as a kid, so she grew up thinking she was a natural born performer. And they wouldn't lie to her. That having been said though, it clicked that her parents had never sent her to any singing classes, and Sugar suddenly realized why.

If she were to start up her own show choir club though, she'd need to get her parents on her team, otherwise the whole point of joining a glee club would become moot. Without her parents, winning a glee club competition would only be for her own selfish reasons of wanting to rub her victory in Mr. Schuester's face.

Sugar smiled at Al's joke. "That's what I wanted to see! A smile. See how pretty it makes you?" Al said.

* * *

Sugar sat at the coin operated computer in the small room which branched off the main lobby. She typed in 'glee club' into the search bar, and rapped her fingernails as she waited for the screen to load. The internet was incredibly slow in the past, and it frustrated Sugar to no end. She didn't realize how much she took fast internet access for granted. She promised to cherish it when she returned. If she returned.

At last the screen loaded. She scrolled down the page, looking at her options and finding none which suited her needs. She saw music books, old photos, jewelry shaped as musical notes and strange giant black plates, called 'records'. One hit did perk her interest; a strange book titled 'Lesbian School Girls' Glee Club' but she figured that if she needed more information on that subject, she'd just ask her mama. Regardless, it was useless in her current situation. She closed her browser screen and huffed. She couldn't buy a glee club off eBay as she initially thought she could.

The idea of starting her own glee club was stuck in her head and had manifested. First Mercedes had told her to buy her own glee club, which Sugar figured you couldn't, and then Al had told her to start her own glee club. They had to be signs. It was her destiny; this was the reason why she was sent back in time. She was to start her own glee club, and rule the school through song. Sugar reopened her browser, and typed in 'glee club' into Google. The search results showed different glee clubs from different schools around the country, and the competitions which were being held. Everyone looked very gaudy in the photos, and Sugar didn't really understand how her mothers had gotten caught up in this world. Her mama had always told her that they were the popular kids, and the people in these photos looked nothing close to popular. It was all about matching costumes, repetitive dance moves and fake plastered smiles. Sugar ignored the fact that the same could be said about cheerleading.

She clicked on a photo of a local glee club, named Vocal Adrenaline. The group was standing in four rows of increasing height, standard formation for group photos. To the side was a woman with wavy brown hair, wearing a dark dress which hugged at her curves. _Shelby Corcoran leads Vocal Adrenaline to their seventh consecutive National Show Choir win_. Sugar was impressed. She typed in _Shelby Corcoran _into Google and found a page dedicated to her on an online encyclopedia. Sugar read about her many achievements, and even skimmed through information on her personal life. Apparently she was now in New York, acting in small plays here and there. She was a single parent to an adopted daughter, and that was all that Sugar could learn about Shelby from the page. Most importantly, she was a nationally recognized champion glee club director.

Sugar knew what she needed to do. She needed to contact this lady, and bring her to McKinley High School. She needed this lady's help if she wanted to form her own super Glee club. The only problem Sugar had was contacting the lady. Her contact details weren't on her Wikipedia page, and Sugar didn't know where to start.

Suddenly her computer screen darkened, and a message popped up on her screen.

_**You session has expired. If you wish to continue, please insert more money into the machine.**_

Sugar rolled her eyes. She had barely gotten anywhere on this computer, and most of her time had been wasted on just waiting for pages to load. She rummaged through her bag and found some spare coins and inserted them into the slot. She mentally reminded herself to buy a computer for herself, so that she didn't have to resort to using the public one.

The computer screen lit back up. She went back a page to the Google search screen and scrolled down, hoping to find a way to contact Shelby Corcoran. After finding nothing helpful, she buried her head into her arms and groaned. She closed her eyes tightly as she rolled her head from side to side, as if the motion could shake an idea out of her head. She suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder, and she shot up.

"Oh! Sorry if I startled you. Are you alright there?"

"Al, it's just you. I'm stuck," Sugar said.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to contact someone, but I don't have their details."

"Who are you trying to contact?"

"A glee club director for my new glee club."

Al cocked his eyebrow in confusion. "Your new glee club?"

"Yeah, you told me to start a new glee club if I couldn't get into the original one."

"…I…I was only joking about that…"

"I know. But it made sense to me, so I'm looking for a good glee club director."

Al chuckled. "Has anyone told you that you're a strange kid Sugar? But don't change. I like it. I like your persistence."

Sugar beamed at Al, touched by his compliment.

"Well, I don't know any glee club directors except Will Schuester, and it'd be weird if he was your glee club director. But when I need to hire someone with a specialized skill, and I need the best, I always look for a headhunter. They'll do the job for you," Al explained.

Sugar nodded, and turned back to the computer. She typed 'glee club director head hunters' into the search bar, and waited as the computer whirred into action.

* * *

**To: musichunters **

**From: future_is_here **

**Subject: Get me a Glee Club Director**

Dear Sir/ Madam,

I am starting a new glee club at McKinley High School, and I am in dire need of a glee club director. I need the best you can find me, and I will settle for nothing else.

Currently I have been looking at Shelby Corcoran, former director of Vocal Adrenaline from Carmel High, but if there is someone better, I do not mind.

I pay good money.

From Sugar Motta.

* * *

**To: future_is_here **

**From: musichunters **

**Subject: Re: Get me a Glee Club Director**

Hello Sugar,

Thank you for contacting us about your new Glee club.

We are happy to help you find a director, and we will definitely find the best for you.

Shelby Corcoran is the perfect candidate, and we will contact her shortly regarding your offer.

We will contact you when we get a hold of her.

Happy singing,

Juan Williams.

* * *

Sugar walked into the school's reception, and saw a lady with wavy, brunette hair sitting on one of the couches. Al was sitting next to her, and they were making small talk between them. Sugar cleared her throat and they both turned to look at her.

"Hello, I'm Sugar Motta."

"Nice to meet you Sugar. I'm Shelby Corcoran." She offered her hand, which Sugar took.

They were both interrupted when Principal Figgins opened his door and welcomed them inside.

"This is Shelby Corcoran, and we'd like to hire her for my daughter's glee club." Al started. Sugar sat on the armrest of Al's chair, and rested her own arms on Al's shoulders. She figured that way it would look like Al was the most wonderful father in the world.

"Your daughter's glee club? We already have a glee club at McKinley."

"I know," Sugar said, "I'm starting my own now."

"I'm not sure I can allow that. We're already short on resources at this school. Plus I've had so many problems with the New Directions these past few years. Frankly I don't want to hear any more problems about any glee clubs at this school."

Sugar reached into her bag and pulled out a cheque. She knew how this man worked. Money was the only way to his heart.

Principal Figgins' eyes bulged as he read over the amount, and his face broke into a giant smile. Sugar swore she almost saw him drool. Al Motta looked at Sugar in confusion, and Sugar winked.

"Mr. Motta, just so I'm clear, in exchange of this very generous donation, all I have to do is hire Mrs. Corcoran to start a second show choir at McKinley which features your daughter."

A look of understanding washed over Al. "For which I will cover any and all expenses." He looked at Sugar and played along with the act. "My Sugar's a supernova Figgy."

"You have a deal! Mrs. Danny-brown, Mr. Motta has just ended our toilet paper shortage with this enormous cheque! Wipe away!" he exclaimed, waving the cheque around like a victory banner. "Thank you for your time Al." He looked at Sugar and then at Shelby, "And good luck with your new glee club! Make our school proud!"

They all stood up and Sugar followed Al out of Principal Figgins' office, with her new glee club director behind her.

"Thank you again for agreeing to look after my daughter," Al said.

Shelby nodded her head, avoiding everyone's eyes. She looked distracted. "I'm excited to see how this year will pan out," she said blandly, "well Sugar, I'll see you in rehearsal then." She quickly shook Al's hand and walked away, her eyes scanning her surroundings.

"She doesn't seem very interested, does she?"

"Perhaps she's just tired," Al hesitated, unsure of why she was acting that way himself.

Sugar shrugged as she bid Al goodbye, and headed off for her classes for the day.

* * *

She heard the tinkling of piano keys before she stepped into the abandoned classroom. She saw a small piano, and sitting behind it, Shelby Corcoran.

"Hi," Sugar said timidly.

"Good afternoon Sugar," Shelby greeted, looking up from the piano. The music stopped, and the silence between the two increased in volume.

"So, before we start rehearsing, I just thought we should talk about what we want to achieve this year."

"A win?" Sugar was slightly confused by the question. Wasn't winning obvious?

"Well, yes, that's what we'd like to achieve in the end, though there's a slight problem; you're the only member of this glee club. We need at least 12 members. Without 11 other people, we won't be able to join the competition, let alone have the chance to win."

Sugar lowered her head. Sugar knew exactly who she'd love the other members to be, but they were already a part of another rival glee club, and had no way to convince them to join her club.

"Look, while we're waiting on some new members, let's work on aspects of your own performance. Is there anything in particular you'd like to work on?"

Sugar thought back to what Mr. Schuester, and even Al, had told her.

"My singing."

"Ok, let's hear what you can do." Shelby turned to the piano and played a scale. "Sing these notes."

Sugar took a deep breath and opened her mouth. She followed the notes as Shelby played them on the piano. Sugar closed her eyes as the notes got higher, and in doing so, missed Shelby's face form into a wince.

"Alright, alright! I think I have an idea on what we have to work on," Shelby said.

"Not much, right?"

Shelby ignored the question and played a chord on the piano.

"Follow me. Just hum along to the notes," she sang along with the chord.

Sugar copied Shelby, and was pretty sure she was spot on. Shelby thought otherwise, and couldn't wait to grab a coffee in the teacher's lounge.

* * *

Sugar walked out of the classroom pleased that her first rehearsal with Shelby had gone so well. Perhaps news of her progress would spread quickly, and people would come flooding into her glee club. Of course, none of that would matter unless two special cheerleaders ditched their glee club and joined Sugar's one.

Just as she was thinking about them, she spotted her parents at the end of the hallway sticking up bright pink posters, full of glitter, rainbows and unicorns. In the centre was a photo of a boy's face. The same boy she saw at the coffee shop a few days ago. They were stuck on nearly every inch of the walls, and they had a whole stack by their feet. She took a step towards one of the nearest posters, and chuckled. At the bottom of the poster, it read 'Campaign Manager and Poster Mastermind: Brittany Pierce'. Of course her moms were helping this boy with his presidential campaign. They were such kind people. Also the poster screamed 'Brittany Lopez-Pierce'. Sugar fondly remembered a lot of glitter and unicorns having a big part in her childhood.

She was suddenly pulled out of her reverie by the beaky girl she met when auditioning for the glee club.

"You're starting another glee club?!" the girl said loudly.

Sugar was taken aback. The girl's voice was unnecessarily loud, and she was standing unnecessarily close. Sugar stepped back, afraid that she might get hit with the girl's nose like a swordfish. It was like a weapon of mass destruction. Also, were pleasantries not a thing of the past?

"I am, and I have."

"Just because you didn't get accepted into our own glee club? Surely there must be regulations against starting a new glee club in the same school. The New Directions have held the prestigious position of representing McKinley High School for the past two years, and you come and interrupt our precious balance."

Sugar opened her mouth to retort, but the girl interrupted.

"No, you know what? Persevere with your show choir group. You will never reach the standard that the New Directions have reached. Who is your director anyway? Please don't tell me it's Sue Sylvester."

"Shelby Corcoran."

The girl froze. "I'm sorry? I must have missed that. Who did you say it was?"

"Shelby Corcoran," Sugar said slowly and loudly.

The girl's eyes widened and her mouth slowly slackened. It opened and closed, like a gaping fish, but no sound emerged.

"I'll take from your stunned silence that you're scared, because I've got the best show choir director on my team. And you should be scared. She says we're going to win." Sugar walked away, her eyes still fixed on the girl. Her reaction pleased Sugar. If people were already scared, it'd be a matter of days that the members of the other glee club would come crawling to join her.

Sugar couldn't wait until she could cash into the inevitable mutiny.

* * *

**A/N: Just wanted to take the time to point out that the 'Lesbian School Girls' Glee Club' is a legit search result whenever I type in 'glee club' into eBay. Also, Merry (belated) Christmas!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

She entered the empty classroom, which was now her temporary rehearsal room, and saw Shelby sitting at the piano, smiling at her phone.

"Who's that?" Sugar asked.

Shelby jumped in her seat and quickly turned around. When she realized it was only Sugar, she calmed down and her features softened.

"My baby," she answered simply. Sugar had never seen Shelby like this. They had had a few rehearsals together already, which usually ended with intense shouting matches, but this was the first time that she had seen Shelby act like this. Her eyes were shining, and she couldn't see the strict vocal coach that she was used to in her features. Sugar liked this new and different Shelby. It reminded her of her own mami.

"She's adorable."

Shelby hummed in agreement, and then switched off her phone. She put it back into her purse, and stood up, her back straight and stiff. She walked over to the chalkboard and wrote _Vocal/Swallowing/Breathing Exercises _in large handwriting.

"Just...wanky."

Shelby looked over at Sugar, confusion on her face. "Well, let's start, shall we? We're still on the basics. Last time we worked on posture, and today I want to work on these aspects of singing," Shelby said with an air of professionalism, her earlier softness disappearing immediately as she gestured to her writing on the board.

Sugar groaned. "Why are we still doing basics? I get it all. Can't we move onto bigger and better stuff? I have an audition for West Side Story soon."

Shelby's eyes widened before she could stop herself. "You're auditioning for West Side Story?"

"Of course. Oh, and if I don't get a part, you're fired."

Shelby raised her eyebrow, but chose not to comment. "Basics are important. Once you master them, you'll be able to master anything. They're your foundation. Without a good foundation, your house collapses. It's the same with singing. Now, show me how you'd take in a deep breath."

Sugar closed her eyes and sucked in. She continued sucking in as much air as she could, until her lungs felt stretched to the point where her chest felt like it was about to burst. Once her lungs felt full, she tried to fit in as much air as she could into her mouth that her cheeks bulged like a chipmunk preparing for the winter and her face turned blue.

"What you're doing right now, is only breathing with your upper lungs. You want to breathe with your whole lung. You want to fill it to full capacity, so you have enough air and power to sing. The only way we can maximize the amount of air into our lungs is by using our diaphragm. By using our diaphragm, our lungs are stretched, allowing more air -" Shelby stopped talking and looked at Sugar. "You can let go of that breath Sugar."

Sugar opened her mouth and gasped for air. Her head was feeling light-headed and she had to sit down on the table behind her to prevent herself from collapsing. "Thanks," Sugar panted.

Shelby shook her head and continued. "Now I know this doesn't look flattering, but I want you to breathe with your stomach. Drop that diaphragm, and fill your lungs."

Sugar looked down at her stomach and took in a deep breath.

"No, stop. Did you see that? You raised your shoulders. That's counterproductive, and you aren't doing anything beneficial by doing it. Lower your shoulders. Inhale, and you should see your stomach expand." Shelby instructed. She placed her hand on Sugar's stomach lightly. "Push my hand."

Sugar watched Shelby's hand move as she expanded her lower torso. She could feel the bottom of her lungs fill with more oxygen than when she breathed with her shoulders.

"Great! Can you feel all those muscles? That's where you're going to get all your power from to belt out all those songs. Don't forget what we learnt last time. Stand firmly on your feet. Feel the energy coming from the ground, through your feet, through your abdominals, your lungs, and out of your mouth." Shelby was starting to get very excited, and Sugar could tell that she was very passionate about her work.

Sugar continued to practice her breathing with different breathing exercises, but she was starting to feel light-headed. "Ok, let's use everything that we've learnt with some scales. Follow me. I am a shining star," Shelby sang with perfect pitch.

Sugar cleared her throat and copied Shelby. She started off well, but then everything she had learnt flew out of the window when her 'performance mode' was switched on. She closed her eyes and swung her arms around, in time with the piano.

"Ok, stop, stop." Shelby said firmly. When Sugar didn't listen, she gave up and yelled, "Stop! I am a shining star, I am a shining star. Do you hear the difference?"

Sugar glared at Shelby. They had finally reached that part of the rehearsal, where Shelby started to get frustrated, and Sugar was becoming tired. But Sugar refrained herself from yelling back. She felt that she had made a lot of progress this lesson. "Yah, I sound good," she said sarcastically. "You know, why don't you take the day off." Sugar's throat was starting to hurt, and she was sure her blood pressure was low from all the breathing exercises. "I need to catch up on My Strange Addiction episodes, and you kinda have this irritating nasally quality that I can only take so much of," she joked.

Shelby gave her an indignant look, and Sugar suddenly felt bad. "Sorry! Asperger's," she quickly added. She bent down and quickly gave Shelby a hug; her way of conveying the message that she was grateful for all that she was doing.

As she left the classroom, she got a quick glimpse of what Sugar could only describe as a 'teenage mess'. Dark, ragged and loose clothing hung off a slim frame. Though none of the clothes appealed to Sugar (no one in the future and in their right mind would ever be caught wearing such a costume), her bright pink hair was reminiscent of many people in the future (advancements in gene technology meant parents could choose the colour of their baby's hair; aqua was a popular choice). The smell of menthol and cigarette smoke hit her nose, and Sugar quickened her pace, wanting to avoid any sort of interaction with the strange girl.

She continued on her way and out of the corner of her eye, noticed a familiar face looking down at her. She stopped in her tracks and turned towards the poster of her mom, under the words 'Pierce for President' hanging off the wall. Her mom was lying on the grass, adorning her cheerleading uniform, her face framed by the red and white of cheerleading pompoms like a lion's mane. She stepped back from the poster and her line of eyesight followed the other campaign posters, periodically situated along the wall, in between the facial close-ups of other presidential candidates.

Sugar followed the trail of posters and was taken around the corner, where she spotted her teenage moms hard at work. There was a pile of posters on the floor in between them, and their bodies were stretched as they reached for the highest spots on the wall, somewhere where the poster could not be missed by potential voters. Sugar stalked closer to the pair, but was careful to not get too close; she was still yet to share a proper conversation with her teenage moms.

"Does that look straight to you?" Brittany asked as she stepped back from the wall, her hand scratching the back of her head.

Santana stepped over to Brittany and cocked her head to the side as she studied the poster. "Yeah, as straight as you are Britt," Santana replied.

Sugar tried her best to stifle the giggle which was building in the back of her throat, afraid she might give herself away. She watched on in silence as her mom gave her mami an adoring look- one which Sugar was all too familiar with- and slowly lean in. Her mami stepped back and cleared her throat as she looked down at her toes. Having grown up with her parents all her life, Sugar had never seen either of them step away from any signs of affection, and her mami's actions puzzled her.

However, Sugar's thoughts didn't linger for much longer as her mami looked at her watch and exclaimed, "Britt! My audition!" Unlike Sugar, Brittany seemed to understand this as she quickly collected the remaining posters and followed Santana as they ran off down the hall. Sugar hurriedly chased them through the school, and up flights of stairs until they stopped right outside the doors to the school's auditorium. Sugar hid behind the corner just as her parents embraced in a hug.

"I'll be waiting in the wings. Good luck!" Brittany said quietly into Santana's ear. She quickly pecked Santana's temple before Santana could react, and the pair entered the auditorium, leaving Sugar behind. When the coast seemed clear, Sugar tip toed up to the doors to the auditorium, and saw a sign in the windows. **PLEASE KEEP QUIET! WEST SIDE STORY AUDITIONS IN PROGRESS! **

_Of course_, Sugar thought. Despite only just mentioning to Shelby that she was auditioning for a part in West Side Story earlier in the day, it had totally slipped her mind that the auditions had already started. Seeing that no one was around, Sugar opened the door, as quietly as she could, and slipped in. She jumped into the nearest seat, as far away from the stage as she possibly could be, and slouched down, trying her best to hide her face. From above the seat in front of her, she could see a near-empty stage with a small orchestra outlining the back and sides, and in the centre of the auditorium, Sugar could see the back of three heads at a table, a strange aura surrounding them, thanks to a small lamp.

"Last call for Santana Lopez," a high-pitched female voice rang out from the central table.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm here," Santana called out as she strode down the aisle towards the stage. She walked straight up onto the stage and handed in some sheets of paper to the scraggly man sitting at the piano –the same man who accompanied Sugar during her audition for the glee club. She turned back around and headed towards the microphone.

"Today I'll be auditioning for the role of Anita."

Sugar sat up as she listened to her mami croon into the microphone. Her mother's voice took her to a different place in her life; it reminded Sugar of her younger days, when her mom used to sing in some of the television shows she acted in. Her mom would come home, humming the same songs as she peeled carrots, and would then continue to sing the songs to Sugar, just as she was drifting off to sleep during her bed time. Though Sugar didn't recognize the song, it still made her sit back in her seat and close her eyes as her body relaxed in time with the music. All too soon, the last notes of Santana's song came to an end, and Sugar sat up in her seat, hoping to get a glimpse of the directors' reactions. She couldn't see much from the back of their heads, but Sugar didn't worry. She already knew the outcome of her mother's audition; it was one of the perks of coming from the future.

"That was great Santana, just perfect"

"I know it's early, and I'm not supposed to say this, but I'm pretty sure you'll get the part."

"I better get the part Four-Eyes, otherwise I'll deflate your wheels." Santana threatened with a slight humor in her voice. She walked off to the side of the stage, where Sugar was sure her mom was waiting. Sugar was about to sneak back out of the auditorium, when she heard her name being called.

"Sugar Motta!"

She froze in her spot and carefully turned on the spot to find that no one was actually looking at her. She was so sure that she had been caught spying.

"Sugar Motta onto the stage please!"

It suddenly hit her. It was her turn to audition for the musical. She had totally forgotten, and didn't think her audition was until later in the day. Sneaking in to watch her mami's audition didn't seem like such a bad idea after all; if she hadn't, she would have missed her chance.

Walking up to the stage gave Sugar enough time to calm her nerves, when she suddenly realized that she had not prepared anything for her audition, yet telling the directors felt incredibly unprofessional, and even Sugar knew that it was unacceptable. She decided against singing a song from the future, and barely had any knowledge of old songs. She had heard different songs here and there, but none of them had stuck in her mind. Besides, she didn't know any lyrics.

"Which part will you be auditioning for Sugar?" said a familiar voice.

She squinted into the darkness. With the bright lights on her face, they made the empty auditorium seem darker, and Sugar could not see anyone in the audience. She raised her hand to shield her eyes, and by doing so, could faintly see the outline of three people sitting at the central table. She immediately recognized Artie sitting in the center.

"Hi Artie! Do you remember me? It's me, Sugar!" she exclaimed, waving brightly at him. He waved uneasily back, but Sugar could barely see with the glaring lights. Sugar contemplated his question. "Uhh…not Anita." Sugar knew she wouldn't want to compete against her mami. "Oh, and not Maria," she quickly added. She didn't want to compete against her Aunt Mercedes either. "Any part you give me will do. I'm not fussed." And with that, Artie gestured for her to start her audition piece.

"I am a shining star!" Sugar screeched. "I am a shining star!" She opened her mouth to repeat the line, but in a higher pitch, when she noticed Artie waving frantically at her. _Oh, so now he decides to wave back_, she thought. She dropped her arms, which she had raised subconsciously, and lowered them to her sides.

"I don't recognize that song," the petite lady on Artie's right stated.

"I don't either. I'm not even sure if that was a proper audition," the other lady on Artie's left added.

"Sugar, when you auditioned for glee club, I tried to be understanding, I mean, we're all for the underdog, but now I just feel like you're mocking us."

"But I'm not mocking you," Sugar said in defeat. She was tired of people giving her strange looks when she performed. Why couldn't anyone see that she was truly giving it her best shot? She was really starting to hate the past. "You know what, screw this. I don't want to be in your stupid musical. You all don't look qualified and your musical is going to suck. Not Asperger's!" She screwed her hands into fists and stormed off the stage.

Sugar knew she was being a real diva about things, but she was finally tired of everything. She had spent almost a full month in the past, and she wasn't getting anywhere. She still hadn't talked to her teenage parents, and she hadn't figured out how to fix her mom's time machine. She furiously wiped at her eyes as she exited the school building and walked back to the motel feeling helpless.

* * *

She was being violently jostled around as she tried to make her way to her locker. There was a large mass of bodies blocking most of the hallway and Sugar had no idea what was happening. She turned to the nearest person, a small mousey-haired girl, and asked, "What's happening?"

"Flash mob rally. Brittany Pierce is running for president. It was all over Twitter," the girl answered, not taking her eyes off the crowd.

The moment her mom's name was mentioned, Sugar's stomach did a big flip. She had no idea what a flash mob rally entailed or what Twitter was, but she was excited nonetheless, just like everyone else around her. She pushed her way through the crowd, receiving a few grunts and remarks, but Sugar didn't care, she wanted to be right at the front, supporting her mom.

By following the crowd, she found herself at the doors to the gym, as everyone filed in and filled up the bleachers. She found an empty seat, right at the front, and sat there eagerly, unsure of what to expect. Suddenly her mom burst into the gym, followed by a team of cheerleaders, singing and dancing. Everyone started cheering and clapping along. Sugar grinned brightly as she watched her mom dance in awe. The last time she had seen her mom dance was in the cafeteria, but Sugar could only get quick glimpses as she leaped from table to table. This time, she was directly in front of Sugar, and Sugar had the best view. Her mom danced a lot in the future, but never like this. She usually danced goofily with her mami whenever the radio was on, but this was different. Today, she was dancing with purpose, and no one seemed to be able to catch up to her. Sugar was absolutely mesmerized. For one moment, Sugar swore she saw her mom give her a wink, which made her heart beat at a million miles an hour, but she wasn't sure; her mom's hair was swishing about, and covered a lot of her face.

Sugar was so awestruck by her mom that it wasn't until later in the performance that she realized that a lot of the crowd had gotten up to join her mother's dancing. She tore her eyes away from her mom – a hard task – and quickly scanned all the people dancing along. Behind Brittany, she spotted her mami, and smiled. Of course her mami was there to support her mom. Sugar wanted to get up and join in, but everyone looked in sync and Sugar had no idea what the dance moves were. Suddenly everyone fell to the floor, leaving her mother, mami and the girl-who-used-to-have-pink-hair-but-now-had-blonde-hair dancing with their solo parts, causing Sugar to grin widly.

More girls started jumping up from their seats, and joining in with the dancing, and Sugar couldn't help but get up and join along. She pushed her way to the front of the crowd, and everyone sang along and threw their hands up in the air. Another girl pushed forward and handed Brittany a microphone, whom she promptly thanked. "Hi, I'm Brittany S. Pierce and I'm your next senior class president!"

Everyone started cheering, and Sugar couldn't tell who was cheering louder, her mami, or herself. Sugar looked around, and could see her Aunt Mercedes, and the girl with the beaky nose also clapping along. All around her, everyone was smiling and having a good time. It made Sugar warm inside. She loved seeing her mom make all these people happy and never felt any prouder. She couldn't wait to see everyone when her mom actually won the election. Everyone would be ecstatic.

Sugar watched as a lot of people walked up to Brittany and pat her on the back, and Sugar chose now to take her chance. She strode up to her mom, and tapped her on the shoulder. Her legs turned to jelly. Her mom was real. She was flesh and bones, and Sugar could touch her. Brittany looked over at Sugar, and she could feel her hands start to shake. She leaned over and whispered in her ear, loudly enough for Brittany to hear over the noise in the gym, "That was great President Pierce," Sugar said shyly.

Brittany grinned back. "Thanks honey."

Sugar almost died on the spot. Her mom used that term of endearment on her all the time in the future. She swiftly turned around and ran out of the gym, and into the nearest bathroom. She rummaged into her bag for a packet of tissues, and blew her nose, not caring that the sound reverberated off the walls all around her. She could actually feel her heart collapsing with the pain. She missed her moms, the future, and her life so much, and her body was having a physical reaction to her loneliness. She looked into the mirror and saw that her eyes were red and puffy. She almost didn't want to care, but chastised herself. She had to stay strong. She was getting close to finding a way out of this mess. She could feel it.

* * *

Her next rehearsal gave Sugar quite a shock. Instead of only seeing Shelby waiting alone at the piano, she saw another familiar face, and it made Sugar's heart flutter.

"Mercedes?! What are you doing here?"Sugar squeaked, ignoring how high her voice was getting.

Shelby spoke up, "Oh, you know each other already? Well, Sugar, I'm sure you won't mind, but Mercedes has decided to lend her skills and join our glee club."

Sugar squealed in response and ran to Mercedes, enveloping her into a giant hug. With her face buried in her Aunt Mercedes' shoulder, she missed the confused reactions being shared between Shelby and Mercedes. "Woah, calm down girl, we barely know each other."

Sugar wanted to tell Mercedes the truth, but knew the consequences, so she kept her lips sealed. She pulled back from the hug and stepped away, but stayed closer to Mercedes than she was to Shelby.

"Ready to start rehearsing?"

Sugar was blown away. As much as she loved hearing her parents sing, her Aunt Mercedes was on an entirely different level. Though she had heard her Aunt Mercedes sing a numerous amount of times when she was younger, this time felt particularly special. She was hearing Mercedes sing before she was a big star. She did not expect her to have that much power and presence at such a young age. She had expected that her skills would have matured over the years, but Sugar decided that she was just a natural talent. She was born to sing, it was as simple as that.

Sugar spent much of the rehearsal listening to Mercedes sing in awe. She really didn't mind being in the background for the hour. She sat down on the nearest table and stared starry-eyed at her aunt. Shelby also didn't seem to mind that Sugar wasn't participating in today's rehearsal. For once, there was no shouting in their rehearsal.

"If we're going to be a winning glee club, we're going to need more members."

Shelby nodded in agreement as Sugar silently watched the two interact from the background. "Is there anyone that you have in mind?"

Sugar knew immediately who she'd like to have in their new glee club. Even the thought of having both her moms and Aunt Mercedes in the same glee club made Sugar's knees buckle with excitement. They'd be an unstoppable quartet; Mercedes and Santana's voices, coupled with Brittany's dance moves would easily concoct an invincible team.

"I could ask around. Some of us were pretty upset at last year's loss at Nationals, so I'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind joining a winning team for once." At this revelation, a smile crept across Mercedes' features. "I've got the perfect candidate. Santana Lopez. She cracked it at Rachel Berry last year. She'd do anything to leave the New Directions. I mean, she practically burnt down one of their pianos."

Sugar's heart pounded. Mercedes must have read her mind. "Yes! Santana Lopez will be perfect for our glee club! Please, please, please recruit her," Sugar begged as she got onto her knees and grabbed onto the hem of Mercedes' shirt. She was shaking, and the tears forming at the corner of her eyes were threatening to fall. Sugar didn't know that she could want something so much. She had gone past the point of just wanting her moms to be a part of her glee club; she was now drowning in desperation. Her life was literally depending on it.

"Sugar, don't worry, I'll ask her. Actually, it'll be good. If she joins, Brittany will join too. They're inseparable."

Sugar made a weird noise from the back of her throat, halfway through a whimper and a squeal. She remained on the floor, afraid that if she stood up, she'd collapse. Mercedes looked over to Shelby. "We can form an all-girl group," she suggested.

Shelby seemed to contemplate this, but nodded enthusiastically. "Great idea Mercedes!"

Mercedes looked down at Sugar. "You're a weird child, Sugar Motta, and I'm still undecided about you. But we'll need you if we want to win." She patted Sugar's shoulder and supported her to her feet.

Sugar found that she had lost her voice, so she nodded in response. Suddenly the bell rang, indicating that classes were starting up again. She retrieved her bag from the top of the piano and turned back to the other two people in the room. "I've got class now, I'll see you ladies later!" She quickly gave then both a hug and left the room, headed for her locker. Along the way, she walked past a notice board, the same notice board where she met Mercedes a few days ago. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a new sheet of paper which had been pinned up in the centre of the board. Sugar stopped and stood in front of the sheet. It was the casting list for West Side Story. Her eyes scanned the paper and couldn't find her name. Though this didn't surprise Sugar, she couldn't stop the feeling of disappointment that washed over her. She had lost her chance to perform in a musical with her parents. Her heart jumped when she read her mothers' names on the list, just as she expected to. Sugar couldn't be disappointed for long though, she was so sure that Mercedes wouldn't fail on her promise, and get her moms to join her glee club. Interestingly enough, Sugar noted that she couldn't find Mercedes' name on the list, and she reminded herself to ask why.

After retrieving her books from her locker, she entered her geography class and spotted an empty seat next to a familiar face. "Hey Tina," Sugar greeted brightly.

Tina turned her head and moved her books over to allow room for Sugar. "Oh, hey Sugar. How's your new glee club going?"

"Perfect! Mercedes just joined us, and she's a perfect addition to our team."

Tina stopped moving her books and her mouth fell open. "What? Mercedes joined your glee club?"

"Yeah. Perfect timing really, Shelby says I'm improving a great deal, and I needed someone as good as Mercedes to keep up with me. You know what Tina? You should join us too! We're forming an all girls group."

Tina's response was lost as their teacher entered the classroom and threw heavy atlases on to their desks, the loud _thumps_ startling the rest of the students from their stupor.

* * *

"Motta Mias. Tomato Tomotta." She was brainstorming possible names for her glee club, just as Shelby had asked her. Shelby sat and listened to a few of Sugar's suggestions, but then grew bored as she excused herself and flicked through her sheet music. It suddenly dawned on Sugar. She had the perfect name. "Locomotta!"

Muffled giggling wafted into the rehearsal classroom, and Sugar turned to face the door. She could recognize those three voices from miles away. Mercedes had told her earlier in the day that she had convinced her moms to join their glee club, and the anticipation of not only being able to see her moms, but also getting the chance to finally interact with them bubbled in Sugar's stomach. Finally Aunt Mercedes entered the doorway, flanked on either side by a pair of cheerleaders. Sugar almost threw herself onto the group, but quickly withheld the temptation. "Awesome, more back up for me." It had escaped her lips without Sugar thinking, and she chastised her idiot brain and idiot mouth. She was about to blame Asperger's when she noticed the change in her mami's face.

"Oh, okay, you know what? I did not just leave one diva driven glee club to join another, so let me write you a reality check Richie Bitch." Santana slowly stepped closer, and Sugar retreated, feeling each of her mother's words hit her squarely in the chest. "I've seen what you can do, and what you can do is stand in the back, sway and sing very, very quietly"

Sugar couldn't look her mami in the eye and diverted her gaze by looking at her mami's white sneakers instead. Even though she was used to her mami telling her off, there was something humiliating about being told off by a teenage version of her. This was the first time that she had spoken to her teenage mom, and it was not how Sugar had planned it at all. There was also something uncomfortably familiar about it. It then dawned on Sugar that the last time she spoke to her mami, they were having an argument as well. "I...um...just wanted to be on the winning team for once?" Sugar said timidly, her cheeks rapidly gaining heat. Not many people could reduce Sugar into a frightened mess; her mami was one of the rare few. Sugar was quickly finding out that her teenage mami was not much different to her adult mami, and that fact alone was terrifying.

"Then turn down the 'tude and you will be," Mercedes added sternly, but with less venom than Santana. Sugar looked up at Brittany, but her mom had nothing to add. Instead, she was fixed on Sugar's chest, and it made her uncomfortable.

"Ladies, welcome," Shelby said from behind Sugar. It was the first time that Sugar was grateful to hear her voice, because it meant that she wasn't going to be criticized by her mami again. "We were just brainstorming names for our new group."

Santana walked forward and nudged Sugar out of the way. It was her first contact with her mami, and though she should have felt elated, she was hurt. "Perfect! Hot Bitches," Santana blurted out quickly. Sugar couldn't help but think that her mami had had that idea in her head for a while. "Or Hot Messes."

"Free Beer," Brittany added. Sugar wanted to laugh aloud, because it was so like her mom to come up with such a ridiculous name, but Shelby quickly interrupted.

"Ah, okay, I was thinking something that more captured our essence. Sums up who we want to be, who we really are."

"Well what we are is trouble for the other groups."

Everyone hummed in agreement while her mami chuckled. Sugar tried to enter the circle that her glee club had formed, but her mami was blocking her way.

"The Troubletones," Shelby suggested, "I like it."

"That's good." Everyone's faces brightened up. Shelby had hit the jackpot. This was why she was one of the top show choir directors money could buy.

Finally Sugar went around her moms, and stood next to Shelby. "I like that too," she interjected, though nobody seemed to be listening. They were all too busy trying their new group name on their tongues. Sugar felt dejected and ignored. She was the one who had started this group. She was the one who went into all the trouble of finding a director and hiring Shelby. Her efforts were starting to feel wasted. Sure her moms had joined, but what was the point when they were both treating her like she didn't exist?

"We're going to need more members if we want to compete," Brittany informed. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I asked Tina," Sugar piped in, hoping someone would acknowledge her.

"Oh no, Girl Chang wouldn't join us without her precious Boy Chang," Santana dismissed. Sugar's shoulders slumped. She was feeling more and more inadequate as each second passed and the others discussed who else they could recruit.

"Santana and I could ask some of the Cheerios. Santana's cheer captain this year, so they have to do whatever she tells them. They can be our backup dancers or something." Santana nodded in agreement, and gave Brittany a looked which seemed to convey '_You're a genius'_.

"Great!" Shelby said, as she turned back and sat down at the piano. "Let's warm up!"

"Nice shirt by the way," Brittany whispered in Sugar's ear. Sugar looked down at her chest and gulped as she walked over to the piano beside Shelby.

* * *

Her legs were starting to feel heavy as she kicked her legs, one after the other in quick succession. She had done the same moves at least thirty times in the past hour as they rehearsed their first group number in an empty classroom after school and her body was starting to feel incredibly tired and sore. But she tried her best to hide her fatigue as no one else was looking tired. Sugar figured it was because most of them were used to strenuous rehearsals, with their involvement in past glee clubs and cheerleading. She also wanted to look good and impress her moms. Just like her mami had said, Sugar found herself in the background as a backup dancer, while her parents and aunt sung and danced in the middle. Even though she was itching to sing along, she really did not want to be on her mami's bad side, so she obeyed her instructions and mimed along. She was doing well so far. Her mami hadn't raised her voice more than twice during their rehearsal. Sugar figured it was because she was busy concentrating on her own routine, and anyway, they were receiving a lot of yelling from Shelby as she tried to perfect their performance. A few times, she had to tear her eyes off the trio in the centre of the room, as she caught herself just watching them and forgetting that she was a part of the performance as well.

"Alright. Ten minute drinks break," Shelby shouted. Right away, she grabbed her music and starting scribbling notes down. Sugar sighed as she slumped to her bag and rummaged for her drink bottle. She found it squished up against her maths folder and she gulped down the lukewarm water thirstily. She watched as Santana and Brittany left the room, mostly likely to find the bathroom, and Mercedes walked over to Shelby, most likely to discuss her prominent role. One of the cheerleaders that Santana had forced to join the Troubletones flopped down beside her.

"You're really good Steph," Sugar complimented.

She smiled in return and swallowed a large amount of water. "Thanks." She wiped the sweat from her brow and fixed her blonde ponytail just as the other two Cheerios came and joined them.

Sugar waited patiently for her own compliment, but none was sent her way. "Is this much different to being a cheerleader?"

The three cheerleaders glanced at each other as something silent passed between them. "Working your ass off along to the soundtrack of screaming? Of course not!" Danielle, the girl with the darkest skin, chortled as the other two giggled along. Sugar didn't understand their joke, but grimaced anyway. Sugar was feeling quite left out in the group. The cheerleaders stuck together, while Mercedes, Santana and Brittany spent most of their time together. That left Sugar stuck with Shelby, but she didn't want to hang out with a teacher. There was something incredibly demeaning about that.

"Don't forget that we're still stuck with Sandbags," Michelle, the brunette, piped up. The other two hummed and nodded in agreement.

"Sandbags?" Sugar asked, confused.

Michelle looked around the room and lowered her voice. "Santana."

Sugar leaned back. She didn't understand the connection between sandbags and her mami, but she was offended nonetheless. As much as she disliked her mami's attitude towards her, she was still incredibly protective over her. These girls should have felt blessed to have the opportunity to be in the same vicinity as her mami. She wanted to tell them to wait for the future; they'll be the ones waiting in lines to get her mami's autograph, but held her tongue. Right on cue, her moms returned to the room, and everyone silenced.

"Before we start up again Shelby, we should talk about costumes."

"I vote we dress up as giant lollipops, and I'll be Willy Wonka. And I want a walking stick as well. One that sticks to the ground when I do somersaults." Sugar looked over at Brittany, and then caught the cheerleaders share a look as Michelle cocked an eyebrow.

"We could always base our costumes off Christina Aguilera's video clip," Mercedes said as she walked over to the computer at the back of the classroom. She opened up the browser and quickly typed something into the search bar. Soon enough, men in military uniform surrounded three women in white uniform. When Sugar got closer to the computer, she realized that the women performing were actually all the same person, just with different hair styles.

"Yeah! You, Santana and Brittany could wear that uniform. There's a blonde, one with black hair and one with red. Brittany, Mercedes...and...sorry Santana, I guess you're going to have to dye your hair red," Sugar said.

"I'm not dying my hair red," Santana said adamantly.

"I dunno, it could be hot."

Santana looked over at Brittany and quietened. She seemed to be contemplating what Brittany had just said.

"I'm sure we could find some military uniform in the costume stores of the drama department. If not, I'm sure Lord Tubbington can get a hold of some from the black market."

"What are we going to wear?" Danielle chirped.

"You should wear the male military uniform."

"We're not wearing that."

"We're an all girl group."

"Nothing wrong with wearing pants if you're a girl."

Soon everyone started talking on top of each other, and no one could make out what someone else was saying.

"Girls, please! One at a time. You don't have to wear military uniform if you don't want to Danielle. How about dressing up as a Rosie like in the video? That symbolizes female empowerment, and they're wearing pants."

Sugar didn't know what a Rosie was, but spoke up. "I want to wear a dress. It'll look good when we spin around and everyone can see my legs."

"Alright, how about what she's wearing when they're dancing. That pink dress."

Mercedes had to rewind the video to remind everyone of what dress Shelby was referring to. There was a moment of silence as they all envisioned themselves dancing in those dresses.

"I like it."

"Me too."

"Hopefully we can find some spare ones in the costume department." The girls all nodded in agreement. "Well now that we've figured that out, let us continue rehearsing."

They returned to the center of the room, as they endured Shelby's barking for another half hour. Finally Shelby was ready to call it a day, and dismissed the girls. Sugar collected her bag, and walked out of the school, faintly humming _Candyman_ to herself.

"Hey Brittany, Santana. Want to grab something to eat?" Mercedes' voice rang out across the parking lot.

"Oh, can't. Sorry Mercedes. It's a Friday." Brittany called in return. She hopped into the passenger seat of a red car, with Santana getting behind the wheel.

Mercedes looked over at Sugar, hoping for more of an explanation, but Sugar shrugged; not because she didn't understand, but because she wasn't about to ruin the time space continuum. Sugar knew exactly what her mom was referring to, and getting into a car with Santana only confirmed what Sugar was thinking. Sugar never saw her moms on a Friday night. When she was younger, she would have a baby sitter look after her, and as she got older, she had the house to herself. Friday nights were date nights, a tradition which apparently started well before they were married.

"C'mon Sugar, I'll give you a lift home," Mercedes said as Sugar shrieked and ran over to her aunt's car.

* * *

She used both her arms to heave the door closed. The door slammed deafeningly which caused Sugar and a few other students to jump around her. She blushed as she lowered her head. It was the first time that she had driven her mom's car since arriving in Lima, 2011. Sugar didn't know what compelled her to drive the thing to school today. She had walked to school every day, but today she decided that she needed a change. She was starting to really settle into this new life that she was living. As much as she wanted to be back home, she had decided to make the most of the situation that she found herself in.

She fumbled with the car keys; cars in the future didn't need keys, and just as she was about to check that she had locked her car properly, a familiar voice rang out.

"Nice car," Brittany greeted. Sugar quickly thrust the keys into the keyhole and turned around. She leaned against the side of the car, trying to look as casual as possible. Beside Brittany was Santana, who happened to be looking down at her phone, and a baby-faced boy who Sugar didn't recognize.

"Oh, this old thing?" Sugar patted the hood of the car. The car looked weathered and about to fall apart at any minute. The white paint was now an off-yellow and some of it was peeling in some places. The tray at the rear of the truck was covered with a thick layer of mud and dark spots, to which Sugar didn't know the origin of.

"Yeah, I think it's the same model as my car." Brittany pointed over to her left, where a pristine version of Sugar's car was parked. Sugar could feel her stomach churn. The same two cars were less than ten yards away from each other, and both their owners happened to be two feet away from Sugar. Would something horrific happen now that the two cars were now in the same vicinity? "I thought this model was only released a few months ago. How did you get it so dirty? Nice choice in car though. Great minds think alike," Brittany said with a wink.

Sugar's face reddened as she forced a smile. In reality, she hated her mom's old car. As well as being ancient, it was also bulky and tricky to drive, and Sugar never really understood why she needed a truck, instead of a small car like most of the other cars in the parking lot. The giant tray was useless and quite frankly a nuisance.

Santana then looked up from her phone and nodded at Sugar to acknowledge her presence. She looked behind her to see the boy standing there awkwardly. "You still here Lucky Charms? You've been for a couple of days now, surely you don't still need us to guide you. Go follow a rainbow, and when you get to the end, give me all the gold you find," Santana snarled.

"Santana," Brittany warned. The boy's face became increasingly pink as he stalked away, heading for the front door of the school. "He was sorta already following a rainbow," Brittany said as she gestured to herself and Santana.

Santana quickly grabbed onto Brittany's hand, halting her motions and she eyed Sugar, daring her to say something. Sugar gulped and stared back blankly. Santana broke eye contact as she looked at Brittany. "I just don't like the kid."

"He asked me out the other day," Brittany said, as if in passing.

"Oh did he now?" Santana said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. She stomped off, towards the entrance of the school. Brittany jogged to keep up with Santana, quickly giving Sugar a wave.

"See you later in rehearsal!" she shouted behind her. Sugar couldn't help but let out a small giggle. It was so much like her mami to get jealous over such petty issues. But, there was something very heartwarming about seeing her mami get protective over her girl, and that nothing had changed for the last twenty years. With that in mind, Sugar walked towards the school, with an extra spring in her step.

* * *

"What are you doing here Moby-Dick? Spying on us, are you?" A tall boy wearing a striped polo shirt stumbled around and faced the source of the voice.

"Oh, uh, Santana. I'm here with Mr. Schue. Mrs. Corcoran let us watch your rehearsal."

Santana turned her head and looked over at the Troubletones. "What do you reckon girls? Do we allow Mr. Schue and his manboy spy on us?" Sugar looked over at the boy. Even though he was taller than everyone in the room, his shoulders were slumped and he didn't exude an ounce of confidence; a stark contrast to her mami. There was something almost pitiful about the boy, and it wasn't just because her mami was calling him names. His demeanor also happened to remind Sugar of someone she once knew, but she wasn't sure who and why.

"Let them watch. I want to see them squirm," Sugar piped up. Santana turned to face Sugar, and Sugar could see a slightly surprised smirk on her face. It was almost as if Santana was looking proud of Sugar.

"I like your line of thinking. I hope you wore your diaper Finn, because you are about to shit yourself. The Troubletones are here to stay."

The boy shuffled off the stage and into the darkness of the seats. The group split as they went to make their final preparations for their dress rehearsal. Sugar adjusted her dress as the band behind them tuned up their instruments, the Cheerios did their stretches, and Santana, Brittany and Mercedes did some vocal warm-ups. Finally Shelby joined them on stage, after having a quick chat with Mr. Schuester. She gathered the group, and everyone stood round her, forming a tight circle.

"Alright ladies, turns out we've got a bit of an audience today for our rehearsal, which isn't ideal, but this might work to our advantage. If this works out well, we might use it in our repertoire for future competitions, and I'm quietly confident. I want to see big, performance, jaw-aching smiles, and everyone giving it their hardest. Most of all, I want to see teamwork and support from each other. Listen to each other. That's the most important thing. Let's show the competition what we can do!" Shelby squeezed Sugar's shoulder just as she was about to leave the stage. She headed for the table in the centre of the auditorium, and flicked on a lamp, which illuminated the immediate area. "Positions!"

Sugar scrambled to the front of the stage and sat down with her legs hanging off the edge. Three other members clad in red matching dresses mimicked her, while three others in blue costumes stood in their positions, near the back of the stage. "Three, two, one!" Shelby shouted. Soon enough, the band started playing and their performance was in full swing. Sugar plastered on the performance smile that Shelby had trained them to pull, and kicked higher that she had ever kicked in rehearsals. Afraid to ruin their performance, she whispered the lyrics, and was glad that her parents and Mercedes were singing most of the song. Everything was traveling very smoothly, and Sugar couldn't help but garner a look at their audience. Though it was hard to see anything through the glare of the stage lights, she could imagine their stunned expressions. She sensed some movement, and assumed it was Mr. Schuester burying his head into his hands.

Throughout the performance, Sugar caught small glimpses of her parents interact on stage. Her mother was being a total goofball by pulling silly faces, and since arriving in the past, she had never seen her mami smile so hard. She caught her mami watching her mom every so often, and it made her tingle. They were born for the stage, and they were absolutely killing it. Sugar couldn't help but feel this overwhelming sense of pride. It was because of her that the Troubletones were a force to be reckoned with. They were going to win their competitions, hands down.

Finally the music came to a halt. They got into their final poses and held them for a few seconds. Sugar listened as everyone on stage huffed and puffed, trying to catch their breath. It seemed that it wasn't only Sugar who was giving it their all. A slow clap echoed around the auditorium, matching their thumping hearts. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

The girls broke out of their final positions as a collective sigh was shared between the group. All those rehearsals, sweat and bruised toes had paid off. They had not only impressed their director, but also instilled a sense of confidence in themselves and scared their opponents at the same time.

"Uh...thanks for allowing us to watch your rehearsal. Girls, that was...well...amazing. I can't wait to see what you bring to Sectionals." Mr. Schuester said. He seemed like he was in a great hurry to leave, and soon afterwards he was out the door, with the boy in tow.

The Troubletones were about to pack up, when Shelby's voice stopped them. "Ok, girls, it was a good performance, but there's still a bit we need to work on. Brittany, I want more support when you're singing. Drop that diaphragm. Michelle, watch your timing in the pivots. Santana, as much as I like on-stage chemistry, I would like you to share that chemistry with the audience, and not only Brittany. And Sugar, eyes to the front and stop watching the performance; you're a performer, not an audience member. Places please. Back to the top!"

Sugar barely had time to wipe the sweat from her nose before the sound of the drums kicked in, and she was swinging her legs. They were only just starting their road to Sectionals, and Shelby wasn't going to stop at any rest stops any time soon. Still, Sugar couldn't help but feel immensely proud, and was excited for the future.

Or past.

Time travel was still confusing, regardless of the era she was in.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

She dug into her bag, which had been left on one of the desks, pushed aside to allow more room for the group and the piano in the center of the room. Her hand found the cool plastic of her drink bottle and she lifted it, freeing it from the depths of her bag. She twisted open the cap and thirstily gulped down a few mouthfuls of the refreshing liquid. Her throat had been feeling immensely scratchy and raw from singing for the last hour, and Shelby being Shelby meant that she hadn't had a chance to coat her dying throat until the end of their rehearsal. Despite the overall success of their Candyman performance, Shelby had chosen to push the girls harder than ever. She had told them that there was much potential, and she was only a quarter of the way into unlocking it.  
Sugar spluttered as some water travelled down her windpipe instead of her throat.

"You alright Sugar?" Mercedes asked. She beat against Sugar's back, hoping to dislodge the stray water droplet stuck in her throat.

"I'm fine," Sugar replied, "just choking on water, as you do." she coughed a few more times and gave Mercedes a small smile, confirming that she was indeed alright.

"As you do," Mercedes repeated, mirroring Sugar's smile. Over the past week, Sugar had found herself becoming closer to her aunt. Her mothers continued to be joined at the hip and the other cheerleaders had stuck together, forming their own little clan. Mercedes had reached out to Sugar, perhaps out of pity, but Sugar liked to think that she genuinely liked her. After all, Sugar was best friends with her unborn daughter.

From the other corner of the room, someone cleared their throat. "Before Ms. Corcoran dismisses us, I just have something to say. As lovely as it is to practice with you girls, I'm afraid we're going to have to start decreasing the number of rehearsals. It's getting closer to opening night of West Side Story and Artie's already making us come in at seven in the morning for dance practice."

Brittany nodded in agreement. "Seven!" she mirrored, emphasizing the point by putting up seven fingers into the air and waving it in front of their faces.

Sugar looked over at Shelby, who was slightly disappointed, but her words didn't show it. "I absolutely understand. Let's say we meet up once a week instead?" she proposed.

Sugar remained stoic, though her aching body yelled in celebration. Four rehearsals a week was starting to take a toll on her body, and it was all becoming excessive very quickly. If she was surviving four rehearsals a week, once a week would be a breeze.

"Aren't you and Brittany the only ones in West Side? I don't want us to all become lazy when we stop rehearsing," Mercedes pointed out. There was something in her voice, like she was unhappy with the decision being made without her prior approval. Sugar knew about Mercedes' disappointment in not being cast as the lead in the school musical, but she had stayed stubbornly quiet regarding the issue, only proving her worth by putting in as much effort as she could muster in the Troubletones.

"No, we're in it too," Danielle piped in.

Mercedes looked over at the group of Cheerios, over near the blackboard with a sudden newness in her face. It was as if she had forgotten that they were in the room. "Right," she said stiffly, "Sorry, I didn't know."

Sugar looked over at the defeated Mercedes. She put her arm around her aunt's shoulders. "We can't wait to see you guys perform. We'll be there to support you from the audience."

Mercedes looked over at Sugar and nodded quietly.

"I think that settles it then. I'll see you girls in a week." Shelby collected up her music sheets, organizing them into a neat pile.

Sugar gathered up her bag and followed the rest of her teammates out of the room. Quickly enough, everyone had split up and headed to their separate lockets in preparation for the start of classes. Sugar swung her locker door open and forced her bag into the cramped space. She had finally gotten used to using a manual lock and not a swipe card, but locker organization was still a new concept to her and she still hadn't gotten a hold of the necessary skills.

Just as she reached up to take her Maths textbook from the top shelf, something heavy leaned against the adjacent lockers, the metallic clanging as a groan escaping their hinges.

"You alright there?" Sugar asked.

Mercedes continued to look through her phone as she answered Sugar, "I just realized that I don't have you on Facebook."

Sugar looked over at Mercedes, confusion written all over her face. "Facebook?"

"Yeah...Facebook. You have one, don't you?"

Sugar continued to look blankly at Mercedes. The thought of having a book full of people's faces seemed quite ghastly. "Ah...refresh my memory again. I seemed to have blanked."

"You know, Facebook. Social media. Mark Zukerberg."

Sugar had no idea what a 'Zukerberg' was, though it did sound like some sort of novel alcoholic beverage. Sugar did know, however, what social media was. It was finally starting to make sense; Sugar assumed that Facebook must have been the predecessor to the future's Contacts Utopian Margin (CUM for short) . "Oh right. Sorry, I just had a mind blank."

Mercedes gave sugar a strange look. "Honestly girl, what era are you from?"

A strangled chuckle was all that escaped from Sugar's lips. If only she knew. "Yeah, sorry, I don't have one. My...uh...parents banned me from it."

"Your parents banned you from it?"

"Yeah. some crazy stuff went down and they weren't too happy about it." Although Sugar had no clue as to how Facebook worked, she knew all the problems that social media caused. After all, it was the first lesson they learnt in elementary school, before learning the letters of the alphabet, and it was what lead to the downfall of the 2027 government.

"Just make another one, it's not like you have to show them."

Sugar pondered the possibilities. She thought about the consequences of leaving an imprint of herself on the World Wide Web, where nothing could be erased. Would creating a fake Facebook account tear a hole in the time space continuum, rendering her future self obsolete?

"C'mon Sugar, everyone has one." Mercedes pleaded.

Well, if that was the case..."Ok, fine, if I must. But I won't be able to do it at my house, my dad can't see it."

Mercedes grinned brightly. "Well, we can't do it at school either, they've blocked our Facebook access. Come over to mine tonight, we'll do it there." She nodded in finality, locking in their arrangement and walked off to class.

Sugar couldn't help but feel incredibly sneaky. Here, she was, planning something behind her fake father's back, and possibly against time itself. Still, she was being invited over to her aunt's childhood home for the first time. She was finally starting to feel like she had friends and that she was actually liked.

* * *

They were sitting at a mahogany desk, the elegance of it in stark contrast to the modern computer humming quietly in front of them. "We're nearly done. Now you just add friends. Add me first."

Sugar started typing in Mercedes' name but stopped. She had almost started typing in her married name, but quickly stopped herself. She didn't look at Mercedes, hoping she didn't notice her half-second of slight hesitation. Soon enough, a photo of Mercedes with a boy she had seen around school popped up. "Ooh, who's that?" Sugar teased.

Mercedes blushed, "Shane, my boyfriend." she said quietly. Sugar couldn't help but notice the slight in her voice, as if she was still testing the name and word 'boyfriend' on her tongue. Unfortunately for Sugar, and for Mercedes, she knew this boy wasn't going to last, but she kept quiet anyway. "Aww, cute!" she said obligingly.

She clicked on Mercedes' profile and added her as a friend. "Should I add more people?"

"Obviously. You can't go around with only one friend on Facebook. I'm going to go grab some food. Continue on without me." With that, Mercedes left her room, leaving Sugar at the computer.

At first, Sugar didn't know who she should add to her friendship list. All her friends were in the future and didn't exist in this world. She was considering adding Al when the answer hit her with a blinding force. She knew two perfect people to add as friends. Her fingers rushed hurriedly against the keyboard as she typed in one of the names that had sprung to her mind. A little tab fell from her search bar, showing a photo of her mom pulling a silly face; cross eyed, tongue poking out, and her arms wrapped around her smiling mami. She opened up her mom's profile and scrolled down the page. Her profile showed nothing spectacular, at least from what she could see. There were photos from cheerleading, photos of her cat, and photos of her dancing on various stages. Sugar clicked on '_add friend_', and went back to the search bar, typing in her mami's name. Like before, a little photo popped up onto the screen, this time showing just a solo photo of her mami's face hidden behind some dark shades. She clicked onto her mami's name and was brought to her profile. Like Brittany's there was nothing exceptional, except one thing did stand out. According to her status, her mami was single. That didn't make any sense to Sugar. Her parents had told her that they had been in love with each other since they were five. Now that Sugar thought about it though, she realized that she didn't know much about her parents' love lives. She just knew they had been together for years until they had gotten married, waiting for the laws to change. Regardless of what she didn't know, Sugar thought it was strikingly obvious that her parents were currently dating each other. Sugar had seen with her own two eyes the subtle touches, the lingering smiles and the quiet whispers they shared. Wasn't that how lovers always acted? Just the other day, Santana had gotten defensive because another boy had asked Brittany out. It was definitely puzzling to Sugar.

The crinkling of plastic packets and soft footfalls on carpet interrupted Sugar's thoughts as Mercedes entered the room with a packet of crisps and two glasses of water. She let the packet fall onto the table and placed one of the glasses in front of Sugar. "Try not to get any crumbs on the floor. I don't want to share my bed with ants."

Sugar figured that Mercedes would be the best person to ask, considering that she was her parents' oldest friend. "Is Santana single?"

Mercedes looked at Sugar and then to the computer to where the cursor was pointing. "Um...I'm not sure," she replied, avoiding Sugar's eyes. "Why do you ask?"

Sugar suddenly realized how strange it must have sounded to Mercedes. She probably sounded like she wanted to date her. Sugar shuddered at the thought of dating her own mom. "Oh, it's just that I know people like Santana back at my old school. The popular ones, they hate being single." Sugar lied.

"Funny thing is, Santana does hate being single. Well, I shouldn't be saying this, but it's sorta a badly hidden secret that she's with Brittany. But don't tell anyone. This doesn't leave this room." Mercedes had lowered her voice suddenly and Sugar wasn't sure if she had become suddenly deaf.

"It's a secret? Why would it be a secret?" Sugar was confused. Her parents had always been open about their affection for each other. She never knew her parents to be shy about anything.

Mercedes looked uncomfortable as she took another crisp from the packet. "Santana isn't out of the closet yet."

Sugar's mouth formed a perfect O, as everything finally started making a bit more sense. For some reason, it had never occurred to her that her mami had to come out. She was brought up by a gay couple, and in Sugar's lifetime, the connotations that came with coming out of the closet were just a thing of the past; as in where Sugar currently found herself. Sugar regretted not learning more about her parents and was quickly finding out that she barely knew about their lives before she existed.

"Do you have a problem with gay people?" Mercedes asked. Sugar realized she hadn't said anything for a while, with her mouth gaping open like a fish out of water.

"No, not at all. Some of my closest relatives are gay. I couldn't imagine my life without them."

"Well unfortunately for us, there are people around who are haters, especially in Lima, Ohio, so that's why we won't be mentioning this again. Santana will come out when she's ready, and she can take the time in the world. She knows we're here if she needs us."

Sugar nodded. "Of course."

Mercedes reached over and clicked on the '_add friend_' button on Santana's page. "You only have three friends. What have you been doing? Girl, I ain't letting you go until you keep going." She rattled the near-empty packet in Sugar's face causing Sugar to laugh. "And when you finish these crisps."

* * *

A shrill ring sounded throughout the foyer outside the auditorium causing everyone to stir and check their watches. Sugar looked up at the clock hanging above the national flag and noted that the bell signaling the start of the performance was right on time. During the intermission she had bumped into a few of her classmates and shared some forced small talk. The people she really wanted to talk to though, were backstage, closed off to those not involved in the production.

When she had first sat down at the start of the night, her foot had started tapping along to the familiar tunes as the first few notes of the overture reverberated off the walls. Her heart thumped and her chest filled with excitement whenever she saw her parents on stage, noting how they were both natural performers. It was as if they were both in their element, it was where they belonged. A surge of pride rushed through her when the audience all stood to give her mami's performance of America, a standing ovation, Sugar's cheers being the loudest of course.

She soon found her seat and the audience immediately hushed, anticipating the beginning of the second act. The lights dimmed around them, as the orchestra took their cues.

The second act was just as good as the first act. The audience was very supportive after each musical performance, and then silent during the most dramatic parts. Sugar hid her face when her mami was picked up by the Jets and forced onto one of their members. Her acting was incredibly genuine, and Sugar could see the fear in her face. This was why her mami became the star of a popular television show in the future.

Finally the last notes of the orchestra died out as everyone stood and cheered. She hollered when Brittany came out to bow, and jumped up and down when Santana came out to take hers. Sugar felt warm inside when she noted that her mami had received the loudest applause from the audience, a recognition she thoroughly deserved. Her mami was undeniably the star of the show, and Sugar wasn't being biased; the whole crowd was agreeing with her. After a long time, when Sugar's hands were red and raw from clapping and her throat sore from cheering, the applause had died down as everyone gathered their things, ready to head home after a fantastic opening night. Sugar wasn't ready for bed at all, the songs all still playing on loop in her head and the high still running strong in her blood.

Just as she was about to enter the cool chill of the night, she heard a familiar voice call her name. She turned around and saw Mercedes' face, her arm beckoning her over. "We're all going to Artie's place for the after party. Come!" It was more of a demand than an invitation.

"After party? But we have school tomorrow." Sugar realized how childish she was sounding. Normally she would have jumped at any chance to go out to a party, except the last time she did that, well, she found herself thirty years into the past.

"It's just a small get together, we do it after all our performances, it's tradition."

Sugar nodded and agreed to attend the party. After all, she wanted to congratulate her moms on the great production she had just witnessed. And if she had to do it at an after party, Sugar wasn't going to start complaining.

* * *

"I bet she's going to bring all her show choir friends to make up even better. Not that we need it."

The Troubletones were walking into the auditorium together, after Shelby had told Mercedes to gather the group in the auditorium.

They as they neared the stage, they heard other voices. "No, please, this can't be real." Santana whispered.

"What are you doing here?" The New Directions had entered the stage, just as the Troubletones had done the same thing.

"Shelby told us she had something to show us. What are you doing here?" Mercedes answered.

"Mr. Schue said the same thing."

Santana stalked forward. "Well let me guess, he wants to combine choirs for sectionals. Well it's not going to happen. The Troubletones are here to stay. So why don't you shuffle your busted choir off out stage."

"Look you guys, we can compete without being enemies, alright? We don't have to get vicious."

"Oh, I think we do Soft Serve. See, the Troubletones are three F's: fierce, femme, phenomenal." She turned back to face the Troubletones. "Oh, and guys, hurry up, go get some moist towels, we have to keep Finn wet before we can roll back into the sea."

Sugar turned around and got ready to grab some towels as she played along with Santana's joke, before Michelle reached out to stop her. "She's just kidding Sugar," she whispered. Sugar rolled her eyes. She already knew that.

"Ok, you know what Santana, Finn is in great shape and your meanness only highlights your own personal insecurities." Sugar was starting to get a headache from the beaky-nosed girl's voice. Sugar also realized that she had no idea what her name was.

Santana scoffed. "And Rachel, your moustache is thicker than a Middle-Eastern dictator's."

From behind them, Sugar could hear the strumming of guitar strings. She looked around, thinking it was someone's phone, but she spotted Mr. Schue and Shelby entering the stage. They were singing a song that Sugar didn't recognize, but the smiles on their faces were infectious. Soon, everyone in the auditorium was swaying along with the beat, a piano was spun around, and laughter was heard echoing around the room. She pulled out her phone and raised it into the air, similar to what she used to do at concerts in the future.

"Mr. Schue, Shelby, I think we can all admit that, that was weirdly amazing but what exactly was the point?" Rachel asked.

"That sometimes bringing together two conflicting things can create something totally unexpected."

Mercedes folded her arms. "We're not combining glee clubs, Mr. Schue."

"It's not what I'm talking about. Shelby and I agreed that with sectionals coming up for both us, it's time we all got serious," he looked around the room, "with some friendly competition."

Sugar looked over at her moms and her Troubletones. What did friendly competition even mean?

"Each group is going to put together their own mash up to perform head to head – "

"- For the first annual Mckinley High – " Shelby continued.

"- Mash off!" they finished together.

Everyone in the room cheered, but Sugar still didn't really understand what was happening. She had no idea what a 'mash off' was. She looked at her moms and her aunt, and noticed something very similar between the three of them. There was a glint in their eyes. A fire. They were ready.

* * *

She was stretching her arms, mirroring what everyone else was doing in the gymnasium. Her mami was drawing something on Brittany's face, but Sugar was standing too far away to see the symbol. She bent over and re-tied her shoelaces, unsure of what was about to go down.

Santana had run into rehearsal one day and said two words, eliciting a cheer from everyone in the room. And now, in the gym, wearing the musty smelling sport uniform she had borrowed, was where Sugar found herself.

Dodge ball.

Though she knew what dodge ball was, she had never seen it being played like this. In the future, everyone wore _Virtu-Goggs_, where an image was projected into your vision. She knew the rules of dodge ball, but this time they were using real balls. Was the past crazy? Did everyone realize how dangerous this was going to be? She didn't want to return to the future with a broken nose.

"Ok, let's huddle."

The Troubletones formed a circle on their side of the gym while the New Directions formed theirs.

"We've got this girls."

"They don't stand a chance. I've been doing weights with my throwing arm, and now it's super tank." Brittany whispered.

"Just leave Finn for me. He's mine." Santana said, eyeing each of her teammates.

They put all their arms in, and chanted. "Fierce. Femme. Phenomenal. Here comes trouble!"

The whistle blew, signaling the start of the game. Members from both teams rushed forward and lunged for the balls, quickly retreating back to their starting positions and to safe territory. Sugar looked around. A lot of the balls were on the other side, and Sugar was feeling defenseless without one. Then a scream shouted, Santana threw the first ball, and everyone followed suit.

Red balls flew around the room. Sugar squealed and dodged one which flew very close to her head, the whizzing noise still ringing in her ears. She rushed to collect a stray ball, eyes alert to her surroundings. Already the sides of the court were starting to fill with people; Steph was already out of the game along with three other people from the New Directions. With two arms, she lobbed the ball above her head, and straight at the boy with the mohawk, missing him by less than an inch. Another ball rolled towards her, and she picked it up and passed it onto Brittany, who twirled on the spot, gaining momentum to toss the ball into the other team, and hitting Rachel in the face. Brittany cheered _Gotcha!_ and gave Sugar a high five. Though everyone played with a fierceness and sheer determination, Sugar couldn't help but laugh along, she was just having too much fun. This was nothing like playing with the _Virtu-Goggs, _it was better. She vowed to return to the future and re-introduce the use of balls in sport classes.

While watching Brittany do a cartwheel in the middle of the game, she became distracted and a ball hit her knee. It bounced off as quick as it came, and Sugar looked up to see a boy with gelled hair point to the sides of the court, telling Sugar where she was to go now. She grumbled to herself as she reluctantly lifted one foot in front of the other and joined her other teammates on the bench.

When Mercedes got hit, the Troubletones groaned, leaving Brittany and Santana to defend the team. Brittany's athleticism helped immensely as she hit two other people in the New Directions. When a ball hit her on the chest, Sugar's shoulders slumped. The Troubletones was reduced to Santana, while the New Directions had two more people. Sugar knew her mami. She was petite. She wasn't very athletic. But there was something in the way she moved, dodging balls and deflecting others, that gave Sugar a glint of hope. Santana grunted as she threw a ball at the boy who had hit Sugar, hitting him on the shoulder. A cheer came from the Troubletones' bench, but Santana didn't smile. Her eyes were locked on Finn.

"Go Santana!" Sugar encouraged. "Get him!"

Finn threw the ball, but Santana ducked in time to allow the ball to fly past her head. With her quick reflexes, she retaliated, hitting Finn square in the jaw.

The Troubletones jumped up from their bench and ran straight to Santana, engulfing her in their joy. Santana turned around and gestured to Finn. And he said something in reply, but Sugar was cheering too loudly to comprehend anything. They had won. Their all-girls team, with fewer players had won, fair and square.

Sugar was still buzzing from the game when her mami turned around and threw a ball at the boy who had asked Brittany out on a date. Sugar and the other girls joined in, laughing and squealing. It was like being in a snowball fight except less cold.

Another boy with a headband around his forehead rushed forward and covered his teammate. "Stop it! Stop it! God sakes, he's bleeding." Sugar looked over at Santana, and she rolled her eyes. "Maybe that's how the others treat us around here, but we don't do this to each other. We're better than this."

"God, calm down Grandma."

He stood up and helped the other boy to his feet. "This game's over." They walked away, the rest of the New Directions following suit.

"We still won," Sugar piped in, but nobody reacted. She didn't understand what was wrong. They were all just having a bit of fun.

Santana turned around, away from the team leaving the gym. She walked over to the bench and picked up her drink bottle and wiped the sweat from her brow.

"That wasn't right Santana," Mercedes said sternly.

"Ugh, whatever. A win's a win." She was tense and looking straight at the brick wall.

Mercedes dropped the conversation, but she didn't seem too happy with Santana. Brittany walked over to her bag, next to Santana and looked around for a towel. She pulled a white one out with the school logo, and draped it across Santana's shoulders. "You did good," she said quietly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Brittany then turned back around to the rest of the group and spoke louder, "We just have to win the mash off. We've got to continue proving ourselves." She took out a pair of cheerleader sweats and put them on, on top of her shorts.

Even though they had won, Sugar was struggling to see the joy on any of her teammates faces. Everyone was looking distanced. She was also finding it hard to understand what being a team even meant.

* * *

The vibrations from her lips was causing her nose to itch, and she was about to sneeze. They were doing more warm ups with Shelby, crowded around the piano. She liked to call this warm up the 'horse warm-up' because they were whinnying like horses.

She rubbed her nose to relieve her itch just as Mercedes entered the rehearsal room."Ladies, vocal warm-ups can wait." Shelby stopped playing at the piano and turned in her seat. Nobody ever interrupted warm ups. "Now I was up half the night, thinking about our mash up for the mash off and it came to me: Adele!"

Sugar had listened enough to the radio to know who Adele was. She was on every station that she flicked through, and was disappointed to note that she wasn't still talked about in the future. "I sound just like her," she joked.

"Dude, I love her, she sounds like banana cream pie sounds like when it sings!" Brittany said with a straight face. Sugar couldn't help but giggle at her silliness.

"Ah, I think that's a great idea Mercedes. I think that we could really kill with that."

Santana put her hand up. "Agreed. And now with that decision out of the way, I can stay focused on my one-sided battle of wits with the Knuckle Dragon."

Mercedes put her bag down and walked over towards the piano. "Santana, the dodge ball thing was fun until the end, but enough."

Santana scoffed. "Oh no honey, I'm just getting started."

"Look, I'm the leader of this group and I'm telling you to lay off those guys."

Santana's eyebrows knotted and she crossed her arms. She walked around the piano and over to where Mercedes was standing. "I'm sorry, the leader? Who died and made you queen, Aretha?"

Sugar watched on, as her mami and her aunt bickered, and wanted to stand in to break them apart, yet a little part of her wanted to see how this would pan out. This was all new territory for her, they never fought in the future.

"I brought you guys in and I came up with the idea for our mash up while you were wasting time trynna figure out how to make Finn Hudson cry, so I nominate myself as president of the Troubletones." She looked over at the piano. "All in favor?"

Sugar wanted to pipe in and mention that she was actually the one who had brought Shelby to the school, and that she was the one who had formed the group, but she found that her lips were glued shut. Her mami and aunt were not in good moods, and Sugar was smart enough to keep her mouth closed.

Though she wouldn't have minded Santana being the group leader, she had to admit that she was closer to Mercedes at this point in time, and she had just come up with the perfect mash up idea. She put her hand up, trying her best to avoid Santana's glare.

Everyone else in the room had also put their hand up, except Brittany. "I'm not impressed by your campaign. You didn't put any posters up."

Shelby tallied the counts and turned back to the two girls in the center of the room. "Four in favor means Mercedes gets elected, and she's right, we should all be focusing on winning because we are better, not meaner. Mr. Schue and I both agreed on the ground rules." She straight at Santana and directed her speech towards her. "We play fair."

Santana threw her hands up in frustration. "I just don't have time for this kinda thinking."

"Well make time, because you are a star member of this group and you need to represent."

Santana didn't smile, though her cheeks did blush. Brittany started singing very quietly. "Stop the violence. C'mon!" she said in a sing-song voice. She nudged Santana's arm, and giggled.

Santana's resolve broke almost immediately and she was giggling along with Brittany. Sugar had seen this many times in the future, and it made her heart melt. Their relationship hadn't changed one bit from when they were teenagers. Santana raised her hand and playfully blocked Brittany's face. "Ok, God, ok. Look I'll play fair. From now on I will be so nice, that cotton candy won't melt in my mouth. That's really nice, that's really nice."

Brittany's face broke into a grin and she patted Santana's head, like a master does to its obedient pet.

"Ok, great. Now for Adele. Mercedes, did you have any idea on what songs you wanted to do?"

"Who would I be if I didn't? I always come prepared."

* * *

Sugar stood along with the rest of her team as they huddled around. Their costumes were ready for them, located off the side of the stage. The choreography was running through Sugar's head, and her skin was starting to form goosebumps. This was her first performance for a proper crowd, and she was starting to think that she needed more rehearsals. Either that or a bucket.

Santana walked over to Sugar and put her hand on Sugar's back. "Breathe. It'll be alright."

Sugar smiled at Santana; it was all she could do without vomiting.

Her mami had been incredibly supportive the last few days. She knew that this was Sugar's first performance, and she had been giving her hints and tips every so often. It was like being right back at home, and it made her homesick, not at all helping with her sudden stage fright.

Mr. Schue clapped his hands and walked to the center of the stage. "Welcome everyone to day one of the first annual McKinely High mash off. Ok, a couple of ground rules. Everyone, there will be no heckling of any kind, ok..." His voice became all but a buzz in Sugar's head, as her knees started to go weak. She jumped up and down in an attempt to shake away her fears and tried her best to listen to what Mr. Schue had to say. "...ok, here we go! Finn will represent the New Directions, Santana, the Troubletones, for the Rock-Paper-Scissors face off to see who will perform first. Alright! Let's get it going!"

"Let's do this!"

"One, two, three!" everyone chanted along.

Finn lay his hand flat while, Santana formed a fist.

"Yah!" Rachel yelled.

"Ok, paper covers rock, the New Directions take the stage." The New Directions ran off the stage to prepare themselves, while Santana walked back to the Troubletones.

"Good, I wanted to go second. I want to see what they have to offer before we blow them out of the water. Plus it'll give Sugar here some time to control her knees."

Sugar grimaced, and looked down at her knees, wishing them to stop.

The girls took their seats in the audience. "Where's our popcorn?" Brittany said.

Lights started flashing as the members of the New Directions entered the stage, wearing the most ridiculous costumes Sugar had ever seen. She didn't recognize the songs being sung, but in any case, all she was concentrating on were the fake moustaches and corny winking being directed at them. She heard some of the cheerleaders snicker, and she looked over at Santana, who was not trying very hard to hide her disbelief. Sugar was finding everything very distracting, and in comparing it to their own performance, very childish.

Finally the New Directions finished their song, and were in their final poses. The Troubletones clapped along politely with Santana sitting on her hands and yawning.

"Nice work guys," Shelby commented out of respect more than anything.

Mr. Schue had given his team a standing ovation, and then turned to the girls in their seats. "I can't wait to see your performance in day two of our mash off competition. I hope you girls bring everything that you've got."

"Don't worry, we will," Sugar said.

"Not that we'll need to," Santana said under her breath.

* * *

She hopped down the front stairs of the school, her bag slung over her shoulder. She couldn't wait to get back to the motel and rest her feet after such a long day. She was headed towards her car when she saw Brittany sitting on the hood of her own car, playing absentmindedly with a loose thread on her backpack. Sugar skipped right over, as Brittany looked up. Sugar noted that her face had fallen slightly when she noticed who had approached her. She was obviously not who Brittany was expecting.

"What are you still doing here? I thought I'd be the last person at school. I was having locker problems."

"'M just waiting for Santana. She's still inside."

"She having locker problems as well? You guys need to upgrade to keycards, it'd make life so much easier."

Brittany chuckled, though not wholeheartedly. She was distracted, Sugar could tell. She has seen this same face many times in her life. "Is Santana alright?"

Brittany opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it again, the words dying on her tongue. "She's fine. She's just talking to Coach Sylvester. Probably about head cheerleader stuff. Go home Sugar." Her voice sounded empty, tired even.

"I can stay and keep you company if you'd like?"

Brittany shook her head. "She'll be fine. We're going to be alright. Go home Sugar, it's getting late." Brittany repeated.

Sugar nodded silently and took a few steps towards her own car. She gave Brittany a small wave and Brittany returned the gesture with a small smile, one which didn't reach her eyes.

Sugar got into her car and drove off, unsure of the strange feeling in her stomach.

**A/N: It's a bit rushed, but I was trying to get this out in time for Brittana Week. Plus I shouldn't be doing this...I'm nearing exams! Damn you good-ship Brittana! This is what I do for you. Enjoy!**


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